A boy in his late teens was the victim of Tuesday morning’s mobile home fire in the Williams Lake Indian Band’s community of Sugar Cane, confirmed the BC Coroners Service.
Williams Lake Indian Band Chief Ann Louie said Wednesday that she had no comment regarding the death, which happened in a home located near the First Nation community’s band office.
Members of the 150 Mile Volunteer Fire Dept., the Williams Lake Fire Dept., and the BC Ambulance Service were called to the scene around 7:30 a.m.
By 10 a.m. the fire was largely out, however, the 150 Mile firefighters and RCMP investigators were still on scene.
“The investigation is in its early stages. A specially trained fire investigator will be called in to assist once the scene is safe and the fire has been completely extinguished,” said Const. Andrew Waters, in a release.
North District RCMP fire inspector Const. Edwards told the Williams Lake Tribune Tuesday morning the BC Coroners Service is in charge of the investigation and the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
Police are asking anyone who may have information regarding the fire to contact the Williams Lake RCMP at 250-392-6211 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-22-8477.
BC Coroners Service spokesperson Andy Watson said the name of the victim will not be released, pointing out the BC Coroners Service no longer confirms or releases identify of deceased individuals due to a recent review of the information release policy.
The T’exelcemc (Williams Lake Band people) are members of the Secwepemc Nation and have 786 band members, with 233 members currently living on reserve which is located just south of Williams Lake.
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The community was deeply impacted by the 2017 wildfires and are still recovering from those losses.
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