Hope mom cries out as toddler perishes in blaze

A nightmarish scene unfolded Thursday in Hope as the mother of an 18-month-old boy watched a fire destroy her home and the room where her baby was sleeping in his crib.

Firefighters and neighbours could do little to save the child as the two-storey house on Beacon Road burned, unable to get into the home due to the flames and heat, Hope Fire Chief Tom DeSorcy told The Province.

Amid the confusion, neighbours saw the child’s mother running toward the burning house, followed by her partner.

“She was screaming “˜My baby! My baby! Did you get my baby? My baby is in there!’” said neighbour Pam Nelmes.

Another neighbour said the mother and a friend were “out for a walk” when the fire started at 1:30 a.m.

The mother fell to her knees and watched as crews worked to extinguish the flames.

After the fire was controlled, firefighters “got inside and went to the room and found the child in the crib,” said DeSorcy, adding emergency crews were shaken by the tragedy.

“We’re parents, so when we see this. . . . ,” he said, his voice trailing off.

The RCMP Upper Fraser Valley Serious Crime Unit is now investigating the baby’s death. Both the cause of death and the cause of the fire have not been determined, said Chilliwack RCMP Cpl. Tammy Hollingsworth.

“This is a very unfortunate incident – an 18-month-old has died – and we want to find answers as to why it happened,” she said.

Neighbour Diana Warren said she woke when she heard yelling and banging.

“The flames were just coming out of everywhere . . . . They started crawling toward the back, and that’s apparently where the baby’s room was. It was really scary,” she said.

While the “parents were nowhere to be found,” a man tried to kick in the door, but couldn’t get into house to rescue the child, she added.

Neighbour Nancy Jennewein said police have been at the house numerous times in the past, although it was unclear which home they visited.

The house was divided into three suites. A dog was rescued from the bottom floor.

“I saw the kid yesterday, playing on the balcony, and now he’s dead,” she said. “That room burned for hours.”

Jennewein said she heard the home’s gas had been cut off a few days ago and the couple left the stove on for heat.

Neighbour Winnie Peters identified the mother as Adrian and her partner as Tony.

She did not know the name of the little boy, who was often seen toddling around the neighbourhood with his mom.

Peters said the mother was “devastated” and didn’t want to leave the scene.

She eventually went to a friend’s house. A person at that house told The Province the couple had gone up to Spuzzum Thursday to be with family.

Firefighters were originally told there were two children in the home, but the second child was later found to be safe and not home at the time.

The house remained behind yellow police tape Thursday. Although the structure was still intact, the second storey was gutted, the roof had mostly collapsed and the windows and doors were blown out. A black stroller was abandoned in the yard.