The house fire that claimed the lives of a father and his four children in Oneida Nation of the Thames in southwestern Ontario was started by one of the child victims, police say.

“The investigation has determined that a fire was set by one of the now-deceased child occupants,” the OPP said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

The provincial force handled the investigation of the Dec. 14, 2016 fire that killed 43-year-old Kurt Antone along with 7-year-old Keanu, 4-year-old Kenneth, 3-year-old Kance and 3-month-old Kyias.

“The OPP offers its sincerest condolences to the community as it heals from the horrific loss,” the statement said.

Fire investigators previously told the Star they’d recovered no evidence of smoke alarms in the home.

Oneida Nation Chief Randal Phillips did not immediately return the Star’s request for comment.

Six Nations Fire Chief Matthew Miller worked with the Oneida Nation fire department in the aftermath of the December fire.

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He said these deaths underscore the importance of having an indigenous fire marshal’s office to ensure that fire safety education and outreach is delivered in First Nations communities across the country.

“It really focuses attention on the fact that fire safety education should be the first line of defence,” Miller said.

Miller spent the past year criss-crossing the province visiting First Nations communities and helping assess their fire prevention needs.

One of the widespread issues he found is that even when fire safety material is available in First Nations communities, there is often no one qualified to deliver the training.

“We found a lot of dust-covered manuals and CDs,” Miller said. “You can have the best manual in the world, but if you have no one to deliver the training, it doesn’t mean anything.”

That’s where an indigenous fire marshal’s office would come into play, he said.

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The Nishnawbe Aski Nation in northwestern Ontario created its own fire safety program that NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler has said could be a model to roll out across the country.

That program, called Amber’s Fire Safety Campaign, is named for the 6-month-old Amber Strang, a toddler from Pikangikum First Nation who died along with eight other people in a house fire there a year ago. The Amber campaign focuses on teaching kids the basics of fire safety through school outreach programs.

Fatal house fires are tragically common in First Nations communities, though the federal government can’t say exactly how many people have been killed. It stopped keeping track of the death toll in 2010.

A three-month Star investigation revealed that at least 174 people have died in house fires in First Nations communities since 2010, at least 25 of them children.

The national building and fire codes don’t apply on First Nations reserves, which many experts say leaves them particularly vulnerable to devastating house fires.

Children setting the fires isn’t a new problem.

In 2010 a fire on the Long Plains First Nation in Manitoba killed two people, including a child. That fire is believed to have been started by a child playing with a lighter.

In early March a 13-year-old boy was charged with arson after the only school in Kugaardjuq, Nunavut, burned to the ground in February.

Following the Star’s investigation, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett committed to start tracking fire-related data again, and create the indigenous fire marshal’s office that Miller and others say is so important.

The government is also working with the Aboriginal Firefighter’s Association of Canada to craft new legislation aimed at improving fire protection and prevention across the country.