The Chemainus First Nations community is expected to gather in mourning today after a devastating fire killed three generations of the same family Wednesday.
Twenty-two-year-old Gilbert Frenchy says his grandmother, aunt and niece, along with two others, were lost in the fire on the reserve -- just south of Nanaimo, B.C.
Three people are still missing. Two others were critically burned as they tried to rescue the trapped victims.
An eight-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man managed to escape the blaze by scrambling out of an upstairs window. An 11-year-old boy fled through a basement door.
Heavy equipment will be brought in today as RCMP and the coroner's service comb the ashes of the destroyed home.
A cause of the blaze is still under investigation but it's believed a gas lantern left near a wood stove may have sparked the explosion and fire that engulfed the home in moments.
The fire produced heat with enough intensity to destroy nearby vehicles and ignite trees.
No names have been released.
Calls for improved safety
The deaths have renewed calls for improved housing conditions for Canada's aboriginal peoples.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs says housing for aboriginal people on and off reserves in Canada is a national disgrace.
He says many aboriginals are living in appalling conditions and many of their homes are fire traps.
A recent government report says the death rate in fires at aboriginal homes is 10 times higher than in fires at other Canadian homes.
A separate report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says overcrowding is a major reason.
