An RCMP officer looks at a house on the Nanoose First Nations where two children died in a house fire on Jan. 24,2012, just north of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
Two young brothers who died in a house fire Wednesday morning had been moved from their own home because of fears that a wind storm would topple trees there.
The two children, ages 7 and 9, perished in a blaze in the Nanoose First Nation on Vancouver Island, the RCMP said. Police did not identify the boys.
RCMP declined to comment on the cause of the fire, but neighbours in the Nanoose First Nation, a community of about 500 that is located north of Nanaimo, say the blaze was started by candles, which the family brought out when a power line was knocked out by a falling tree.
Norm Mitchell, a neighbour, said he talked to the boys' mother after the blaze.
"She's in shock," he said. "It's not anybody's call. It's from heaven. It's hard to understand why something like this happens."
He said he knew and would miss the children who died, but would not identify them. "They were soft, gentle-spirited boys," he said. "They were really easy-going. They called me uncle."
When members of the Lantzville Fire Department, responding to 911 calls, arrived at the home around 5:23 a.m., they found it fully engulfed in flames.
The mother of the two dead boys and her common-law husband escaped the fire, along with two other children. The man tried to rescue the two brothers, but the flames prevented him from doing so.
"He just couldn't get back in. The fire was too hot," said Nanaimo-based RCMP Constable Gary O'Brien.
The man suffered general burns and smoke inhalation. The boys' mother was treated for minor smoke inhalation. The two surviving children were not injured. All have been released from hospital.
Constable O'Brien declined comment on the candles, and would say only that the fire was the result of an accident that was the focus of continuing investigation.
"What we are going to say is that it's just a tragic set of circumstances which led to the fire," he said. "It's a terrible situation. The community is taking it terribly hard."
BC Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk said a wind storm that hit Vancouver Island Tuesday night knocked out power for 27,000 customers across the island, including 3,500 in the Nanaimo area.
Around Nanoose, power was out from 10:40 p.m. until 7:30 a.m., said the community relations manager for Hydro on the island.
Mr. Mitchell said the community would rally around the family. "This is a foundation for the traditional ways of first nations across Canada. That never changes. It's always this way."
Constable O'Brien noted the couple did not have home insurance so have lost everything.
The Nanoose First Nation was collecting donations as RCMP and the fire department investigated the blaze.
The fire remains under investigation by fire officials in the Nanaimo area and the B.C. Coroners Service, but police have ruled out foul play and deemed it an accident.
Ian Bailey