A 52-year-old woman is Toronto's first fire death of 2009, with a white pit bull also found dead by her bedside -- and no smoke detector in the home.
Capt. Mike Strapko told ctvtoronto.ca on Wednesday that firefighters were called to the scene at 2611 Kingston Rd., which is near Midland Avenue, at 3:06 p.m.
By 3:13 p.m., the blaze had been upgraded to a two-alarm fire.
Firefighters found the woman in a second-floor bedroom. She had no vital signs at that time.
"They brought her out and started to do CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on her. Toronto EMS took her to hospital where she was pronounced dead," Strapko said.
She appeared to be home alone at the time, but it appears others lived in the home with her, he said.
CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon reported that the woman's husband and son came to the scene, where they learned the tragic news.
"The firefighters did a fairly quick knockdown, but there's a lot of smoke and fire damage in the upstairs area. It wasn't a good situation," Strapko said.
Eyewitnesses said it happened very quickly, with one man saying he saw a "whole lotta smoke" and heard glass shattering.
The cause of the $100,000 blaze is undetermined at this point, but the Fire Marshal's office has determined it started in a second-floor couch, he said.
Strapko said the first fire death of 2008 also came on Jan. 7.
No smoke detector
In a news release issued Wednesday evening, the service said Fire Chief William Stewart went through the home and he didn't see a smoke alarm.
"Toronto residents need to understand the life-saving importance of having a smoke alarm on every level of their home, especially near bedrooms," he was quoted as saying.
"The early warning from smoke alarms significantly improves the odds of escaping a fire."
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon
