The fire at a Nanaimo house where a seven-year-old girl and her parents died has been ruled accidental, likely caused by unattended candles that smouldered without detection.
Amberlee Scarr, Jason Stephenson and their daughter, Piper, were found dead in their Nicol Street home on Tuesday.
An investigation by Nanaimo Fire and Rescue suggests unattended candles in the kitchen likely began smouldering about 5 or 6 a.m., filling the air with toxic smoke, said Fire Chief Karen Fry. There was no working fire alarm in the home, she said.
The blaze wasn’t reported until flames were spotted about noon. An oxygen-deprived fire can run cool until it finds more air, which in this case could have come from the basement or attic or a broken window, Fry said.
“This tragic event resulted in loss of life to three people, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends and extended families at this time.”
The B.C. Coroners Service continues to investigate.
A cause of death has not been determined, but “we’re not treating the deaths as suspicious,” said spokesman Andy Watson.
Nanaimo RCMP had initially said the fire was being treated as suspicious, as the cause wasn’t known. The police have now completed their investigation.
“Nothing nefarious appears to have occurred at the scene,” Fry said.
Mercedes King, Scarr’s cousin, said the family is trying to process news that the fire was accidental. “It just brings up different emotions and a different type of grief that we are trying to come to terms with,” she said.
Before Friday, the family couldn’t fathom how the two adults and child would be unable to escape the blaze. They are now trying to fathom how three lives were lost due to something so preventable.
“Their lives were lost because of a senseless act,” King said.
The family wants to spread the word about the dangers of unattended candles and the need for working fire alarms, she said.
“It sounds like [it] was smouldering for some time, filling the house with smoke, and just consumed them,” King said. “When someone tried to help and broke a window, the fire started.”
Fry said fires traditionally double in size every 30 seconds, but new fire science suggests they are burning a lot faster and are much more toxic, leaving less time to escape. Some of the change is due to the materials and chemicals found in homes.
The only indication the occupants would have received of a fire would have come from a smoke alarm, she said.
