Five people are in critical condition in hospital, including one child, after an early-morning fire tore through a multigenerational family home in Richmond Hill on Labour Day.
York Regional Police, paramedics and Richmond Hill Fire were called to the home near Skywood Drive and Rollinghill Road – in the area of Yonge Street and Gamble Road – shortly after 3 a.m., York Regional Police said.
Four people were found inside the home, police said. York Regional Paramedic Services said they assessed five patients at the scene and four were found lifeless.
All five patients were transported to hospital, paramedics said. York Regional Police later confirmed that one of them is a child under 12 years of age, while another is in their mid 20s. Those transported also include a 70-year-old, a 59-year-old and a 42-year-old, police said.
Speaking with reporters at the scene, Jim Kettles with the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) said the four people who were pulled from the home were trapped, with at least one of them found in a second-floor bedroom.
“At this point, our information is that at present, there are five people that were associated with that house that are in critical condition at various hospitals in the area,” Kettles said.
He said he could not confirm exactly how many people reside at the home, or their ages and genders.
Sources told CP24 that all five patients are members of the same family. The fire is also being looked at by police as possibly suspicious, the sources said.
A red gas canister was visible underneath a tree near the home, but there was no words from officials on whether it had anything to do with the blaze.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, nor is it yet clear where it started, Kettles said.
He said it was too early for the OFM to say whether the blaze might be suspicious.
Initial information indicates that there were working fire alarms in the home.
“My understanding is that the 911 operator, during the phone call, was able to hear smoke alarms during the call, and that the first firefighters that arrived also reported hearing smoke alarms inside,” Kettles said.
Homes in the area were evacuated as emergency crews fought the fire, but people have since been allowed to return to their homes, police said.
Firefighters remain on the scene to monitor for hot spots.
With files from CP24 Reporter Beatrice Vaisman
