Grandmother, her daughter, grandson, 6, believed to be among four killed in house fire
Still unknown if home had working smoke alarms
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Fire crews used generators Saturday to heat a home in the city’s east end that was gutted by a blaze that killed four people a day earlier.
Toronto firefighters rushed to a home on Gainsborough Rd. — near Coxwell Ave. and Gerrard St. — that was fully engulfed in flames around 4:30 a.m. Friday.
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By Saturday morning, the house was boarded up and crews were pumping in heat to prevent evidence from freezing.
This was being done prior to the building being declared sound for Ontario Fire Marshall investigators to enter the home.
“Once we are sure it is safe, we’ll start going through debris in the kitchen and living room,” OFM investigator Jim Gillespie said at the scene Saturday.
This doesn’t mean those areas were the origins of the fire.
It was still unclear where and how the fire started and an OFM investigation can take weeks.
A neighbour said she is devastated at the loss of life.
She believes a grandmother, her daughter, and six-year-old grandson perished in the fire along with a man thought to be the daughter’s boyfriend.
The bodies are at the coroner’s office and the identities won’t be released until after autopsies have been completed.
Two other people who remain in hospital in the wake of the fire haven’t been identified.
Three firefighters were also injured.
One female firefighter who fell through a floor continued to fight the blaze after the fall.
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“In terms of tragedy, this is the worst fire we have seen in a while,” said Frank Ramaganano, president of the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters Association. “Our condolences so out to the family of the deceased.”
Fire officials say the last time the city saw such a significant loss of life was back in 2016 at a Toronto Community Housing seniors’ home on Neilson Rd., in Malvern, where four people died and 15 were injured.
“If anything, I hope people will evaluate their fire equipment at home,” Ramaganano said. “With so many people working from home and students at home, it is important that fire gets discussed.”
At this point, it isn’t clear if the home had working fire alarms.
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