Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-186.29.9.191-20150712115002/@comment-4091815-20150712141546

You are neglecting the fact that Derek met Brett. While the kid would have been between 8 and 10 at the time of the fire, Derek was right there in the same room.

Of course, it is possible, that they were part of a large extended family and never met before but each caveat you place on a theory weakens it. In fact, it is more likely (if the Hale Fire is involved at all in his backstory) that Brett's folks were there but as unrelated family friends.

Here's my thinking on all this - because Brett is not a featured character, he wasn't on set all that much during the first 10, and because it would just be a really convenient (like Charlie's Angels level of character connection contrivance) - Brett's got an interesting backstory all his own with no familial connection to the Hale House Fire.