Destruction in Lytton weeks after the fire roared through the community. (Image Credit: CFJC Today / File Photo)

By James Peters

Lytton Wildfire

RCMP investigation into Lytton wildfire ends with no definitive cause found

Sep 11, 2024 | 3:28 PM

LYTTON, B.C. — More than three years after the village was destroyed by wildfire, B.C. RCMP have concluded their investigation without finding a cause.

Fire ripped through the village on June 30, 2021 — one day after Lytton set a Canada-wide record for heat. Two people died in the blaze.

Several authorities have conducted parallel investigations looking for what sparked the fire, including the RCMP, B.C. Coroners Service, B.C. Wildfire Service and the Transportation Safety Board.

In a news release issued Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 11), Southeast District commander Chief Superintendent Brad Haugli says an exhaustive probe into the circumstances that led to the fire has come up empty.

He said the investigation looked for clues as to its origin on a parking lot and park area at the end of River Drive, toward the south end of the community. It tried to examine all “movements and actions of any individuals, vehicle traffic and a southbound freight train that were all in the area around 4:30 p.m. when the wildfire first began.”

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“Throughout this investigation the RCMP focused on the how and why,” said Haugli. “While we have no single source or cause that can account for the devastating fire, it was not due to a lack of effort. Significant work was done to not only look at establishing and confirming what did happen, but to eliminate what didn’t happen. We remain committed to the community and the important need to support all those impacted, while we also join in the collective efforts to rebuild.”

Haugli said investigators conducted exhaustive searches of two locations — one a one-kilometre radius area near Lytton and the second a two-kilometre radius area near Boston Bar.

Police interviewed 168 witnesses and studied a collection of 55 pieces of physical evidence, as well as hundreds of videos and photographs.

Haugli said there was nothing found to suggest someone started the fire on purpose or allowed it to spread by inaction. Because a cause could not be determined, no person or entity can be charged with an offence.

RCMP say just because the investigation has ended does not mean it would not be reopened if new and credible evidence or information is brought forward.