A house fire last weekend that left a father and his 12-year-old daughter dead has been linked to a pot of cooking oil left unattended in the kitchen.

"An open pot of oil, left on the stove unattended, will eventually boil over, ignite and start the kitchen on fire," Deputy Chief Frank Lamie of Toronto Fire told a news conference on Friday.

"The flames will be several feet high, and I guarantee they will set the cupboards on fire and start from there. Never, ever leave cooking unattended on the top of stove.

To make matters worse, the smoke detectors weren't working in the home. "We're pretty sure that one of the smoke alarms didn't work, and we can't confirm if the other one did," Lamie said.

"But I want to reiterate that it's the law in Ontario  that you have a smoke alarm unit in every area near the bedrooms, and on a multi-storey structure, that you have one smoke alarm -- minimum -- on every storey of the home."

In an accompanying news release, Toronto Fire said: "Test smoke alarms once each month and change their batteries at least once a year.  When you change your clocks forward this weekend, remember to change your smoke alarm batteries. Also, if your smoke alarms are more than 10 years old, replace them."

Fire officials have found that in Ontario, there were no working smoke detectors in about half the cases.

Ken Einboden managed to rescue his infant daughter Kendra, but he never emerged from the home after going back into to rescue Britney.

Many have hailed Ken as a hero, but Toronto Fire had this advice: "The final important fire safety reminder is, 'once out, stay out.' This is very difficult to do when you know that a loved-one is still inside, so have a meeting place outside.  That way you know who is out."

Ken died on Sunday. Britney survived until Monday.

As a result, Kendra is now fatherless and Jackie McGregor is a widow.

Visitations took place Friday afternoon. The funeral takes place Saturday at Central United Church, 1 King St. (King Street and Weston Road).

The family has been left destitute by the blaze. McGregor's only source of income is maternity benefits, and they had no insurance. Ken lost his job about six months ago.

A trust fund has been set up for the family. Donations can be made to the RBC branch at Jane Street and Lawrence Avenue, chequing account number 5052394.