Four dead in Port Colborne house fire
Posted December 14, 2016 5:27 am.
Last Updated December 14, 2016 1:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Fire officials say four family members, including two children, have died in a house fire that has devastated a small southwestern Ontario community.
The fire broke out at the two-storey home on Nickel Street near the Welland Canal around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Firefighters pulled an 83-year-old woman from the home and she was pronounced dead at the scene. She has been taken to Hamilton General Hospital for a post-mortem.
It’s believed a 37-year-old woman and her two children, a 15-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy, were the other victims.
Fire Chief Thomas Cartwright says that before the deadly blaze, the city of Port Colborne had only seen four fire-related deaths in more than four decades.
He says firefighters and the community are grappling to come to terms with the tragedy.
Neighbours told CityNews an older woman lived in the front of the home with her son, while a mother and father and their two children lived in the back.
The fire, which has since been extinguished, caused heavy structural damage and Const. Phil Gavin said it was not yet safe to enter the house.
“Being able to get in and identify and locate everyone is still at this point a bit challenging,” Gavin said.
He said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire and that the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office would investigate.
With files from Tammie Sutherland and The Canadian Press
