Three young men with ties to the Lethbridge Hurricanes hockey team were injured after an explosion in a fire pit at a home in the Bearspaw area on Friday night and officials with the team say they are being treated in a Calgary hospital.

Emergency crews were called to a home in Rocky View County, about 10 km east of Cochrane, at about 11:40 p.m. Friday for reports of a structure fire.

“On June 15, 2018, our detachment received a call from the fire department and EMS of a house fire at a residence in Bearspaw. It was quickly determined that the fire wasn’t in fact a structure fire but was as the result of a bonfire where individuals at the residence were attempting to light the fire," said Troy Savinkoff, Support NCO, Cochrane RCMP Detachment.

Investigators determined that an unknown substance was put in a fire pit resulting in an explosion.

“We do believe that something was added to the fire as they were having difficulties lighting it. We still haven’t determined conclusively exactly what was added to it and we are still doing quite a few interviews with our general investigative section to find out exactly what was added to the fire,” said Savinkoff.

Three people were burned in the incident and were on their way to hospital in a private vehicle when they were intercepted by EMS and transported by ground ambulance to Foothills Medical Centre.

"My understanding is that three individuals were transported with fire related injuries,” Savinkoff said.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes say Jordy Bellerive, Ryan Vandervlis and alumnus Matt Alfaro, who now plays with the U of C Dinos, all sustained various injuries.

Alfaro and Bellerive are in stable condition and Vandervlis remains in critical condition in a medically induced coma.

The team says reports that the incident occurred during a bachelor party are inaccurate and that the campfire was held at the family home of WHL alumnus Tyler Wong.

The Wong family said in a statement on Monday that nine of Tyler’s friends were staying at the home and had planned to head out for a day of golf and camping on Saturday.

They say that the accident happened while starting a campfire and that they acted quickly to take the victims to hospital.

“We are earnestly praying for three of Tyler's closest friends – Ryan, Jordy and Matt – along with their families, for comfort and healing during this time of hurt,” said the Wong Family in the statement.

The Vandervlis family issued a statement through the team saying…

‘Our son and brother, Ryan Vandervlis, was injured at a campfire this past weekend. We want to be clear that alcohol was not a factor in this accident. 
 
Ryan is in a medically-induced coma as he suffered severe burns to his body. He is receiving exceptional medical care in an intensive-care unit in Calgary where he remains in critical condition.
 
We are grateful and overwhelmed by the amount of love and support we have received and pray that Ryan will make a full recovery.’
 
– Barb, Rene, Cara, Sean & Rachel Vandervlis

WHL Commissioner Ron Robinson also issued a statement and said that the ‘entire WHL family is deeply concerned for the well-being of the three players’ and that the league has been in contact with the families and is offering them support.

Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman says the players are part of the community and that he feels for the families involved.

“We hope for the best. We want these young boys to return to full health,” he said. “These are kids that are visiting other children in hospital, inspiring them, supporting charities in our community and now is a time when they need our support so we want to reach out, do what we can to support the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ team and these players specifically.”

"When people are hurt we’re asked to find out why and then determine from that point if criminal charges might be laid. At this point I see no exact evidence to suggest that there will be criminal charges here but at the end of the day, there are people hurt and we have to determine if there was a criminal component that contributed to it,” Savinkoff added. “We know that alcohol was consumed at the property but there’s been no indication that it was done in any excess that might have been a contributing factor to what happened.”

RCMP continue to investigate.