RCMP have deemed a fatal house fire Oct. 28 in Maple Bay not suspicious and the case has been turned over to the coroner.
A four-alarm fire at a home on Maple Bay Road had fire crews from all four North Cowichan Fire Department halls called out.
Maple Bay, South End, Chemainus and Crofton crews were put to work around 9:30 a.m. Monday after a call came in of a fully-involved fire at the two-storey home at the back of the property.
Heavy smoke and flames could be seen from the street.
At 11:15 a.m., North Cowichan fire chief Ron French confirmed that at its peak, about 24 firefighters were working on the fire while another dozen North Cowichan firefighters as well as members of the Duncan fire department were all on standby at their halls.
Police, paramedics and BC Hydro crews were also at the scene.
"It was fully involved when we arrived," said French. "The house is a total loss."
The effort quickly turned from saving the house to protecting everything around it.
French said the teams would be there most of the day putting out the fire, cooling things down and starting the investigation into what caused the blaze.
RCMP said in a news release Monday afternoon that at least one person was pronounced dead at the scene. On Wednesday, they updated that number to three.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.
