The RCMP have released the identity of the man who died in a fire that gutted an Arrow Heights home Thursday morning.
Michael John Ralph, 51, died after being unable to escape the blaze that consumed his Tillen Road home Thursday morning.
The fire started at around 5 a.m. at a single-family home on Tillen Road. Ralph’s 25-year-old daughter was able to escape through a window and she told RCMP that her father was still inside, the RCMP said Thursday morning.
Ralph was considered missing until the afternoon, when investigators were able to enter the home and retrieve his body, said Staff-Sgt. Jacquie Olsen of the Revelstoke RCMP.
She said his daughter was receiving grief counseling and support from Victim Social Services.
Revelstoke Fire Chief Rob Girard said about 20 firefighters responded to the blaze.
They launched an interior attack on the fire but the intensity of the flames was such that they had to pull out.
“We declared it was an exterior attack only for the safety of our firefighters,” said Girard. “The first floor was compromised. It was basically caving in, it was burnt out. It collapsed and the roof collapsed as well.”
By 10 a.m. the fire was extinguished and fire crews were wrapping up their attack. The exterior of the home still stood, but the inside appeared to be completely destroyed.
The RCMP and Office of the Fire Commissioner are investigating the fire.
