A coroner’s jury has made 33 recommendations about fire safety and prevention after hearing the heart-wrenching details of two separate fires that killed four members of one family and three teenaged friends.
The fires, which took place in Whitby in 2012 and East Gwillimbury in 2013, both had circumstances where firefighters were delayed getting to the scene.
In April 2012, Benjamin Twiddy, 19, and his two friends, Holly Harrison, 18, and Mari-Lee Towie, 17, were killed when a fire broke out in the Whitby apartment Twiddy was renting.
Despite communicating with a 911 operator who was talking to Twiddy at the same time, firefighters could not find the victims in time.
The teens’ lifeless bodies were found on the second floor of the building huddled together. They were pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation.
The cause of the fire in Whitby was deemed an accident by the Ontario Fire Marshal but Whitby Fire Chief Michael Gerrard said that the unusual layout of the apartment may have impeded the teen’s escape and ultimately their rescue.
In March 2013, four members of the Dunsmuir family – Kevin Dunsmuir, 55, Jennifer Dunsmuir, 51, Robert Dunsmuir, 19, and 16-year-old Cameron Dunsmuir – were killed when their home in East Gwillimbury, near Leslie Street and Mount Albert Road, caught fire.
The victims were found on the second floor of the house and later pronounced dead. They too died of smoke inhalation.
When the Dunsmuir family called 911 from their home, the fire department that was dispatched was comprised mostly of trained volunteers. They did not call for a backup fire crew.
The coroner’s inquest, which began in March, was tasked with examining each fire department’s response time and the safety measures that were in place on the properties, such as working smoke alarms and proper escape routes.
The jury presented 33 recommendations on how to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
The recommendations are directed at various police, fire and safety departments as well as the Ministry of Education.
The recommendations say that property owners should be informed ahead of time what the level of fire services are in in their neighbourhood and whether the local fire department is comprised of full-time or volunteer firefighters.
The jury also recommends a provincially integrated computer program that would help dispatch 911 calls.
Another recommendation is that fire departments incorporate the lessons that were learned from the East Gwillimbury and Whitby fires into their training material.
Other recommendations include:
- Red-flagging homes that are non-compliant with safety laws
- Inspectors having visual proof of fire safety measures from home owners
- Working with municipalities to ensure house numbers are clearly displayed
- Expanding the accessibility of training resources
- Educating the public on the importance of evacuating a property in the event of a fire
- Teaching the public how to use fire extinguishers with hands-on practice
- Improving collaboration between fire and police services to better preserve evidence at fire scenes
- Having the media reinforce the idea that firefighters may not get to the public in time and that the public should make every effort to ensure fire prevention tactics and an escape route in case of danger
