Three people have been found dead after a fire destroyed a rental home on Vancouver Island earlier this week.

Investigators believe one of the victims initially escaped the fire but ran back inside to save others before succumbing to smoke inhalation.

“If you can get out, then get out and don’t come back,” 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 BC Coroners Service confirmed that the remains of three people were found in the home.

None of the victims have been publicly identified.

French says the fire is believed to have started in the living room of a ground-floor rental apartment where up to five people are believed to be living.

One of those residents was not home at the time, and two others initially escaped when the fire broke out, according to the fire chief.

“From what we can tell, one of the people who lived there was woken up by the one guy who came out,” French said. “But he went back to wake two others and succumbed to the smoke.”

Brianna Cameron, the daughter of the couple who lived in the upstairs apartment, says her parents were renting out the entire house and subletting the downstairs apartment to a middle-aged couple and at least one other person.

Her father, Tom Kalmar, had just left for work and her mother, Leslie Cameron, had gone to yoga when the fire broke out, she said.

The fire chief says the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

“At first, we always look at it as a suspicious fire until we can determine what it is, but we just don’t know what happened before the fire started,” French said.

“With this kind of fire loss, it’s hard to determine exactly what started the fire. We have a location, but we can’t confirm what it was.”

Due to the severity of the fire, investigators have not determined if there were working smoke alarms in the apartment.

The fire chief said authorities are still working to confirm who was renting the downstairs apartment and who was an overnight guest.

“It’s hard to say who was actually on the lease to be there,” French said. “We have a little time trying to find out the real story of what was going on in the basement.”

The scene of the fire has now been handed over to police and insurance investigators.

Cameron says her parents moved into the house two years ago to be closer to her children, while the downstairs residents moved in about six months ago.

“Everyone has been so supportive and wrapped us in a big blanket of love,” Cameron said, adding that her parents now live with her after losing everything in the fire.

Firefighters from the neighboring communities of Maple Bay, Crofton and Chemainus were called to assist in the initial response to the fire.

Anyone with information related to the fatal fire is asked to contact the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.