UPDATE: 2 adults dead following early-morning house fire on Skwah reserve in Chilliwack

Two adults are dead after a fire ripped through a house on Skwah First Nation in Chilliwack early Saturday morning.

Emergency crews were called to the second-alarm house fire on Landing Drive at 7:25 a.m. on March 25.

When crews from the Chilliwack Fire Department arrived on scene, they found the house fully engulfed in flames.

“Crews made an aggressive attack and entered the building to search for the missing people. Due to the condition of the building, crews were forced to evacuate and transition to a defensive mode,” according to a statement posted by Chilliwack Professional Firefighters Local 2826 on March 25.

When firefighters extinguished the fire, they entered the single-family residential house and found two deceased adults on the upper floor, fire chief Ian Josephson stated in a press release on March 28.

RCMP were also called to the scene.

“When we got there the whole house was on fire and two people were inside and deceased,” said a representative with Chilliwack RCMP on March 25.

The majority of the fire damage was contained to two rooms on the main floor and the entire upper floor and attic space, with smoke and water damage to the remainder of the house.

On Saturday, RCMP could not comment on the age or gender of the two deceased, nor could they say whether the fire was accidental or suspicious. But, they did say the RCMP Indigenous police services team was called in.

Firefighters from halls 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 responded to the blaze. There were no firefighter injuries.

“Unfortunately two people lost their lives in the fire. Our thoughts are with the families and community,” Chilliwack Professional Firefighters Local 2826 stated.

Chilliwack Fire Department fire investigators, RCMP and BC Coroners Service are working collaboratively to complete the fire investigation. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

If anyone has any information about this fire, they are asked to call the RCMP at 604-792-4611 or contact CrimeStoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or upperfraservalleycrimestoppers.ca.

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