'Just really sad': community reacts to death of mother and child in apartment fire

Supports are being brought in to help families deal with the devastating loss of a mother and her youngest son in an apartment fire Monday.

The North Vancouver School District said it's working with the North Shore Emergency Management Office to help families directly affected by the fire. It also has counsellors available for staff and students.

Family members confirm that Narges Casnajad and her son, Sepehr, died in the fire.

The school district wouldn't confirm information about the boy, but multiple parents at École Ross Road Elementary school said he attended school there.

Many parents were holding each other and crying Tuesday morning as they left the school grounds.

"I'm just really sad. It's been a tough couple days," said Brenda Devine, whose two kids attend the school.

She said it's been a struggle trying to explain what happened to her young kids in Grades 1 and 5.  

"There's a couple moms who were really upset today, crying and you know they didn't even know the family, but it doesn't matter because they're a part of our community," she said.

More than 150 people were forced out of their homes at the Mountain Village Garden Apartments in Lynn Valley when fire ripped through the complex yesterday.

Today, crews are still working to put out spot fires and sift through the scene to try and figure out what happened.

"It's fairly challenging because of the structural integrity of the building. We don't want to have our crews on the middle floor there, because the roof is gone," said North Vancouver Asst. Fire Chief Walt Warner.

Warner said two-thirds of the building is badly burned and they aren't allowing anyone back in yet.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the blaze.