3 dead after Vancouver Island house fire [Video]

Three people were found dead after a fire tore through a rental home on Vancouver Island earlier this week.

Investigators believe one of the victims initially escaped the blaze, but ran back inside to rescue others before he succumbed to smoke inhalation.

“If you can get out, then get out and don’t go back in,” Chief Ron French of the North Cowichan Fire Department said in an interview Wednesday.

First responders were called to the large residential property in the 1600 block of Maple Bay Road, northeast of Duncan, around 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Later that day, the local RCMP detachment said “at least one person was pronounced dead at the scene.” But on Wednesday, the RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service confirmed the remains of three people were found in the home.

None of the victims has been publicly identified.

French says the fire is believed to have started in the living room of a downstairs rental suite, …