Bodies of 2 children recovered from Oshawa fatal house fire

The bodies of two children have been recovered in the remnants of a fatal row house fire in Oshawa. Two adults were found dead on Monday.

The blaze broke out shortly before 1 a.m. on Olive Avenue, in the area of the 401 and Harmony Road. At one point, several neighbouring row houses were burning, but the bulk of the damage was contained to one unit.

The ages and identities of the victims have not been revealed but police confirmed the two boys were siblings. Police are working with the Centre of Forensic Sciences to confirm their identities.

A total of four residents were also taken to hospital with injuries and three were released the same day. One resident remains in hospital with serious injuries.

There is still no information on how or where the fire started and the Ontario Fire Marshall is investigating. There was also no information about smoke detectors in the building.

Durham Police’s Major Crime Unit has also launched an investigation into the fatal blaze after information was brought forward to police that it could have been arson. Sgt. George Tudos would not go into details of what the information was, but said it prompted investigators to get involved.

“We are looking into this incident and obviously, we’ll looking at everything involved that led to this fire,” said Sgt. Tudos.

Other residences sustained some damage, but it was not extensive. Residents will be allowed to return to their homes over the next few days after the buildings are inspected for safety.

“This process has been very lengthy to shore that building, it was very structurally compromised,” said Fire Chief Derrick Clark.

Chief Clark said the building will now be dismantled “surgically” to determine origin and cause of the fire.

He added nothing has been ruled out in the investigation at this point.