Electrical failure, no working smoke detectors, led to fatal house fire in Upper Beaches

An electrical failure, combined with no working smoke detectors, were the cause of a house fire that took the lives of four people in the Upper Beaches in January.

Emergency crews were called to the home on Gainsborough Road, near Gerrard Street and Coxwell Avenue, around 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 29 for a three-alarm fire.

All four victims were inside the home when fire broke out. Two other people were rushed to hospital with injuries.

According to a pair of GoFundMe pages, the four who perished in the fire were Jana Jansons, Kai Jansons, Amanda Freimanis, and Matthew Zybdal. Arija Jansons, one of the survivors currently recovering in hospital, is the daughter of Jana, and the mother of Kai. Both Freimanis and Zybdal were friends of Arija.

“Everyone must take fire safety seriously. Keep your family safe and make sure you have working smoke alarms and practice a home fire escape plan so everyone knows what to do when the alarm sounds,” she said.

Two firefighters were also injured while battling the stubborn blaze but both recovered.

A joint investigation by the Office of the Fire Marshal and Toronto Fire Services determined the fire was caused by an electrical failure in the dining room ceiling, and that there were no working smoke alarms in the home – an all too familiar trend across the province, according to Fire Marshal Jon Pegg.

“More than one-third of all fatal fires in Ontario we find there are no working smoke alarms, so that’s absolutely a real concern,” he said.

“What we’re asking everyone to do is to really look at their smoke alarms and make sure that they have working smoke alarms and that they practice escape planning and escape routing with their family so they know what to do when those alarms go off.”

“Early notification in a fire like this is the only way residents can get out safely. Fire progresses so fast and the smoke is so thick and black and choking that they really only do have seconds to get out.”

Pegg says electrical-related fires are common, and rank right behind cooking when it comes to the number one cause. He adds there has been an increase in fires throughout the winter, and they are currently looking into the role the pandemic has played in those circumstances.

“Fires do fluctuate year over year. We do see more fires in the winter but we do have a sharpened increase this winter,” he said. “Obviously more people are home but on the flip side its a good opportunity to make sure your home is firesafe and have working smoke alarms considering more people are at home.”

Pegg says with the time change this weekend, it’s a good opportunity to change the batteries in smoke alarms and test them.

“Installing working smoke alarms and testing them monthly is the most important action an individual homeowner can take to protect themselves and their loved ones from the hazards associated with fire.”