A man's body was not discovered until four days after the January 2024 encampment fire.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

The news was "devastating" for Kamloops firefighters when they learned a body was discovered in the debris of a burnt homeless encampment four days after they put out the blaze.

That's according to deputy fire chief Ryan Cail, who said the discovery in January was something no one at Kamloops Fire Rescue wants to find out after leaving a scene of a fire.

"It is absolutely devastating. We never want to lose a single person in any fire of any type, ever," he said. "The nature of a firefighter is to protect life and property. Kamloops firefighters are here to protect everybody in this city."

Police were called to the burnt encampment just west of the Red Bridge on Jan. 24. A person cleaning up the scene of the fire discovered a body under a tent, tarps and other items in the debris.

READ MORE: Memorial appears for man who died in Kamloops riverside encampment fire

The person who died was later identified as 56-year-old Wade Hart, according to a memorial posted at the scene.

When asked why it took four days for his body to be found, Cail said they honestly had to ask the same question.

A memorial for Wade Hart stands near the site of an encampment fire that was doused on Jan. 20, 2024.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

It prompted an internal investigation at the fire department. They want to find out how the body was missed and make sure it doesn't happen again, he said.

He said crews had to send in a bush truck rather than a full-size fire engine to get to the scene. Once they were there, access was difficult and exploding propane tanks made the job difficult.

Through fog, foam and debris, crews set a grid and used thermal imaging to search for any signs of human remains. Nothing was found, Cail said.

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They left the scene before the sun was up.

He said crews followed their normal protocol, absolving them of any negligence or wrongdoing through the investigation. But the process led to a change in approach to fires at homeless camps.

"The complexities of the scene were definitely playing a part in the fact that some steps were missed," Cail said. "We're going to treat these things more like a structure fire. We're new to (encampment fires)."

That means crews will stay on the scene and wait for police, including forensic teams, when there's a similar fire. RCMP will be training fire crews on how to preserve evidence, with firefighters expected to refresh themselves on that training annually.

"We never leave a structure fire without continuity of evidence and scene security, and you're going to see this going forward with these fires at well established encampments, so we don't have to deal with the fact that something was missed," Cail said.

READ MORE: Wrecking ball finally heading to infamous derelict house in Kelowna

On Jan. 24, Kamloops RCMP called it "suspicious debris," and it was the next day that the public learned the debris was human remains.

The scene where Hart was discovered was closed off for days while both police and coroners investigated.

Kamloops RCMP later said the fire wasn't criminal in nature and handed over the investigation to the BC Coroners Service.

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