Two elementary school students and their mother among victims killed in Hamilton house fire

Two elementary school students and their mother were among the four victims killed in a Hamilton house fire last week, according to their school.

In a letter to families obtained by CP24, Principal Nanci-Jane Simpson at Adelaide Hoodless School identified the two children and their mother killed in the Dec. 29 fire.

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“I am very sad to share three of the lives lost were those of Lambeau and Khaleesi McIsaac and their mother Kassie Chrysler. Lambeau was a student in Ms. Woods-Claybourne's Grade 3 class and Khaleesi was a student in Ms. DeSantis' Grade 2 class,” Simpson wrote.

She added that the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) Critical Incident Response Team will be at the school on Jan. 9 to support students in need.

Students are currently on holiday break and return to class on Monday.

Maria Felix Miller, HWDSB Trustee for Ward 3, which includes Adelaide Hoodless School, commented on the tragedy on Twitter Wednesday and said the school’s flag will be lowered in memory of those students and their mother.

The blaze happened around 11 p.m. at a townhouse at 14 Derby Street, near Rymal Road East and Upper Gage Avenue.

The residence at 14 Derby Street, Unit 4, is shown in Hamilton, Ont. on Friday, December 30, 2022. Hamilton Police and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshall are investigating the fatal fire that claimed the lives of two adults and two children. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

Chrysler, her two children and another adult were pulled from the home and rushed to hospital, but did not survive. Two others were transported to hospital with critical injuries.

The identity of the fourth victim killed in the fire has not been confirmed.

Pet rabbits were also found dead inside the home after the blaze was put out.

On Tuesday, Ontario's fire marshal confirmed there were no working smoke alarms in the home, and that the deaths could have been prevented if there were.

“It literally breaks my heart. So I need everybody to inspect their own smoke alarm,” Ontario Fire Marshal Jon Pegg said at a news conference Tuesday.

• READ MORE: Hamilton blaze that killed 4 was 'preventable,' says Ontario fire marshal

Through their investigation, Pegg said the fire started at an upholstered couch on the ground floor. The victims were upstairs when the fire erupted and were unable to go down the stairs to escape, he said.

The exact cause of the fire is unknown.

Pegg said there were 133 fire-related deaths in Ontario last year, the highest total in more than 20 years.

An investigator from the Hamilton Forensics Unit uses a flashlight while investigating inside the residence at 14 Derby Street, Unit 4, in Hamilton, Ont. on Friday, December 30, 2022. Hamilton Police and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshall are investigating the fatal fire that claimed the lives of two adults and two children. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power