TORONTO -- Investigators are working to determine the cause of a massive house fire in Toronto’s east end that left four people dead and two others injured.
“We are in the very preliminary stages of the investigation,” Jason Williams, the lead investigator with the Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM), said outside of the home on Saturday morning. “The first problem we have to solve during the course of our investigation is where did the fire originate.”
The three-alarm blaze broke out at around 4:30 a.m. on Friday. Flames and heavy smoke were seen billowing from the roof as several fire trucks rushed to the home, located on Gainsborough Road in the area of Coxwell Avenue and Eastwood Road.
Four people were pronounced dead after being removed from the home by responding emergency officials. Their identities have not been released.
Two other people who were inside the home at the time the fire broke out managed to escape and sustained various injuries. They both remain in hospital – one in critical condition and the other in stable condition.
One day after the fire broke out, officials with Toronto Fire and the OFM remain on scene attempting to stabilize the home, determine the cause of the blaze and find out if any working smoke alarms were inside.
“Toronto Fire is actually still conducting defensive fire suppression activities right now,” Williams said just after 8 a.m. “We have actually not even started the scene examination as part of the investigation process right now.”
“We will be conducting a preliminary scene assessment to determine structural stability to make sure it is safe for investigators to actually enter into the dwelling. We are going to be dealing with some extreme temperatures right now.”
Also on Saturday morning, Toronto Fire Platoon Chief Chris Rowland said a structural engineer had been called in to assist with plans to stabilize the home.
“Right now, (the house) is compromised and we’re going to stabilize that the best we can so that our investigators can do a thorough investigation and be fairly confident that the building is not going to fall down on them,” Rowland said.
The entire second floor of the home was fully engulfed. Two adjacent homes were also impacted by the fire and the occupants were evacuated.
The investigation inside the home is expected to last several days, officials said.
Neighbour dialed 911 after knock at her door
Speaking with CP24 on Saturday morning, a neighbour of the home said she called 911 after a frantic man appeared at her front door.
“It was about 25 minutes after 4 a.m. and there’s all of a sudden a panic banging on my door,” Vivien said. “I answer the door, a man is there with no coat, no shoes, panic with tears and screaming ‘fire.’”
On Friday, Prasanna Hettiarachi, who operates a nearby restaurant, said the owner of the home is a wonderful and cheerful woman.
As well, area residents told CTV News Toronto that an elderly woman lives in the home with her daughter and grandson, adding other family members were known to stay over and at least one person is believed to be a tenant.
Toronto Fire Services Chief Matthew Pegg extended his condolences to the victims and their family from the scene on Friday.
“This is one of the worst tragedies by fire that I've seen in my career and I can tell you that our team has performed really well,” he said. “I've had the chance now to meet with our senior command team and many of our firefighters on the scene and these are tough days. So my admiration to them all.”
A number of firefighters sustained minor injuries while responding to the blaze.
