Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) has confirmed a late December fatal blaze at a Hamilton townhouse, that left four dead, started in a couch on the main floor and that smoke alarms at the home were not working.
In a news conference on Tuesday, fire marshal Jon Pegg said the cause is still not definitive, but said the offices on-scene probe has been completed with a lab analysis still pending.
Pegg said the “area of origin” was an upholstered sofa in the living room.
At the time, the homes occupants were residing on the second floor of the structure.
“Due to the location of the fire and the configuration of the residence, the fire blocked their ability to descend through the stairwell,” Pegg explained.
“Although our on-scene portion of this specific investigation is complete, there is still much more being completed in order to understand the cause of the fire.”
The fire started at a residence in southeast Hamilton on Derby Street late Thursday night and involved six people inside who were taken to hospital.
Two adults and two children were later pronounced dead after firefighters pulled them from the second floor, two other adults were sent to hospital in stable condition.
Police have yet to confirm the victims’ identities, the relation between them or details about the other two people who survived.
Pegg believed working alarms could have given the victims “a very good chance” to escape.
He went on to say “the most important part” of escaping a fire is a working smoke alarm and escape plan.
“So if the stairwell was blocked, part two kicks in and you have that second means of egress,” said Pegg.
Hamilton chief Dave Cunliffe said it’s fire prevention division is looking through evidence with Hamilton Police and the city’s legal team to see if any potential charges may be warranted.
Under the Ontario Fire Code, owners of structures are responsible for fire safety systems, including working smoke alarms and seal alarms.
In keeping with an initaive created several years, Cunliffe said a “blitz” of the surrounding neighbourhood the day after the fatal blaze saw the service replace 19 smoke detectors at nearby locations.
He said the current trend in the city over the last two years shows fires up significantly, up 247 year over year.
More often than not, the blazes are releted to continued disposal of smokers materials.
“These are preventable. This is something that certainly we believe are behavioral based,” said Cunliffe.
“We need people to understand that it only takes a few minutes for a fire just started and then a tragedy to take place.”
– With files from the Canadian Press
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