17-year-old Ontario boy, due to start at UBC, falls off cliff, dies at North Vancouver’s Lynn Canyon Park

Fire crews say a 17-year-old boy from Ontario died after falling off a cliff at Lynn Canyon Park in North Vancouver on Sunday.

North Vancouver assistant fire chief Dwayne Derban said the boy was with three friends in an off-trail area of Lynn Canyon Park when it happened Sunday afternoon.

Derban said the area had a chain-link fence about 1.5 metres tall marking the edge of the cliff as well as signage warning people to stay away from dangerous areas.

But Derban said the teen’s friends told firefighters that he had climbed over the fence to get a better view of the river canyon.

“He hopped over the fence there and got too close to the edge and managed to slip off. I think he was holding on to a small tree when he slipped or the ground gave way, I’m not sure which, and then just disappeared over the edge,” Derban told 1130 NewsRadio.

He said the group of four friends were all from Windsor Ont., helping the victim get settled and seeing him off ahead of his first academic year at UBC.

“From the little I gleaned, he had a fairly positive future full of bright new challenges ahead of him,” said Derban. “So yeah, it just made it that much more tragic.”

Fire Chief of the District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Mike Danks tells 1130 NewsRadio that they got a call at 3 p.m. and responded immediately.

“For us, that’s a high priority call that crews, B.C. ambulance, the fire department the park rangers, everyone’s responding. RCMP as well,” he said. “It’s an all-hands-on-deck response.”

Danks said that when crews got there, the victim’s three friends were only able to point out where they had last seen him.

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Derban says the initial response was to locate the teen by sending crews down both sides of the river, and another crew to an area below the Twin Falls. He said it didn’t take long to identify the victim on the east side of the river.

“It was clear that the individual had not survived from the fall that he had taken,” Danks said.

The fire chief emphasized that Lynn Canyon Park is a beautiful place to visit but it is essential that visitors stay on the designated trail within the safe zone.

No one should cross fences that are marked under hazardous areas, Danks says.

“We have park rangers that are patrolling the areas, working with the visitors to educate them on how they can enjoy the canyon safely,” Danks said.

1130 NewsRadio has reached out to the RCMP, North Shore Rescue Services, and the BC Coroners Service for more information.

—With files from Michael Williams and The Canadian Press.