Man killed in Scarborough house fire
· Toronto Sun
Toronto’s Fire Chief Jim Jessop says his fire crews “did admirable work” trying to save a man from a Scarborough basement fire on Friday, but tragically they were unsuccessful.
The male victim was pulled from the basement of the bungalow on 18 Marlena Dr. – south of Kingston Rd. and Lawrence Ave. E. – around 6:30 a.m. and was immediately administered CPR on the front lawn before being transported to hospital only to pass away.
Visit palladian.co.za for more information.
Jessop with two other members of his fire service surveyed the burnt out garage area of the home and then crouched down to shine flashlights through charred basement windows.
“They (firefighters) literally forced their way down (the stairway) into a chimney with extreme heat,” Jessop said Friday. “The charring inside that building is something I haven’t seen in a while.”
Jessop explained his fire crews were faced with “heavy, heavy smoke and flames and heat coming from the lower portion of this building.”
“It consumed joists, part of the ceiling, so they did admirable work trying to save a life,” he said.
Ontario Fire Marshal’s office investigating
Toronto Police remained on scene for the day along with Toronto Fire investigators and members of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office will be called in to determine the cause and origin of the fire.
“The occupancy of the home will obviously form part of the investigation, so I can not comment on what occupancy the building was used for,” Jessop said.
Some early morning media reports suggested the top and bottom floors of the bungalow were occupied by upwards of seven people on a rental basis.
Mary ,who lives next door with her husband, said they were evacuated from their home because of the heavy acrid smoke and risk of the fire possibly spreading.
“I do know that both floors of the home were occupied,” Mary said. “I believe they had either rented it (the home) or had boarders – young people.”
Neighbouring house evacuated
Mary said the fire must have been “very intense” as it melted the garage’s door that laid in a crumpled heap and possibly damaged some of their own home’s eavestrough.
“We didn’t know (because) we were evacuated that there had been a fatality,” Mary said. “So that is very, very unsettling.”
She and her husband originally smelled smoke and thought it was their own home that was on fire, but it wasn’t until a police officer rang their door bell and told them to “evacuate” that they knew it was the neighbouring house.
“Its a horrible situation this morning. And want to extend our deepest condolences to those impacted,” Jessop said.
Another neighbour, Ron Beauchesne, witnessed the firefighters bringing the victim out and watched them do compressions on his chest.
“They were doing their actions (compressions) to get this person revived,” Beauchesne said. “And, unfortunately, I guess that didn’t happen.”
Jessop said the death is Toronto’s 11th fire fatality of the year.