Toronto man who died in rooming house fire remembered as ‘kind-hearted, supportive’

A man who died after a fire broke out at an east-end Toronto rooming house early Thursday is being remembered as someone kind and supportive of others.

“It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of our respected colleague, William Cachia, today,” a statement of condolences sent to CityNews Thursday evening by Dixon Hall said.

Dixon Hall is a charitable organization that provides various services to vulnerable residents on the east side of downtown Toronto.

“William had dedicated his life to assisting those who were in need and was an anchor at many of Dixon Hall’s programs. William’s sudden passing leaves a void that cannot be filled, and the loss will linger for quite some time.

“William was kind-hearted, supportive, well-loved, respected by clients and agency partners, and a staple presence in the shelter and respite programs.”

Hours after Todd Digiacomo was forced from his basement unit, he reflected on sharing a home with Cachia.

“Very nice guy, worked full-time,” he told reporters, adding they lived at the same property for three years.

“He’s just a very nice man, a hard-working man. (He) kept to himself, very quiet.”

The incident happened at a home on Coxwell Avenue, north of Dundas Street East across from Moncur Park, just before 5:30 a.m.

Digiacomo said he was asleep at the time when the fire broke out.

“I just heard a bunch of ruckus — people running up and down the stairs. I thought there was a fight actually, so I just got dressed quick and ran out and the fire department was there,” he said.

The action, Digiacomo said, prompted him to run to the storage shed he uses at the back of the property. He said he didn’t see flames but saw smoke coming out of Cachia’s room on the second floor.

Digiacomo said it appeared Cachia was in the shower at the time the fire broke out and went back in to get clothes.

He was later found without vital signs by Toronto firefighters and brought out to the front driveway where he was pronounced dead.

“There were no other reported injuries. The information that I have is that there are as many as seven people that live in this rooming-house-type home,” Toronto Fire Services Chief Matthew Pegg told reporters Thursday morning, noting a TTC bus was brought in to temporarily provide shelter to everyone displaced.

“The investigation that will be undertaken here will of course look at the fire origin, cause, and circumstances, but we will also undertake a full inspection of the building to determine if the building was in compliance with the Ontario Fire Code and that will include smoke alarms. If that is not the case, we’ll take the necessary enforcement action related to those violations.”

Digiacomo said a fire inspection was done in August and there was an order to add protections such as fire doors. He said there weren’t smoke alarms inside the property, adding an electrician removed the devices at some point.

“Yeah I’m not going back in there… unless it’s totally retrofitted,” Digiacomo said as he began the search for a new home.

When asked by reporters about the alarm situation at the property, Pegg issued a public plea.

“This is the right time, right now, to go and test your smoke alarms. We need to have working smoke alarms on every level of our home and outside every sleeping area. Please test them, make sure they are there, make sure they are not older than 10 years old,” he said.

“Please today, before you go back to bed tonight, practice your home escape plan and make sure that everyone in your home knows what to do in the event that smoke alarm sounds.”

CityNews tried to learn more about the history of enforcement actions taken at the property. Toronto Fire Services said they couldn’t confirm if such an order was given since this new investigation is underway. When asked for statistical information related to all recent rooming house fires, a representative said a Freedom of Information request would need to be filed.

A City of Toronto spokesperson confirmed the building isn’t licensed to be a multi-tenant household. Rooming houses are permitted in certain parts of Toronto where zoning allows for it and must comply with a list of safety-related requirements.

Coun. Paula Fletcher, who represents the area where the fire happened, said a licensing regime put in place by the City of Toronto is meant to catch common safety issues in homes where six or more unrelated people are living in the same dwelling.

“There have been complaints to 311 for extra garbage bins, but nobody has called to say it’s an illegal rooming house. But when you are continually asking for large garbage bins, technically I would think that should trigger something, somewhere in the system that maybe there’s more people living there and you need to look and see if it needs to be licensed,” she told CityNews.

This type of fatal fire has happened in this neighbourhood before. In 2021, four people died after an electrical fire at a rooming house on Gainsborough Road — just one street east.

When asked what more needs to be done to address fire safety, Fletcher said better enforcement through 311 is needed — especially at a time when there’s a housing crisis and people need a place to stay.

“Once something like this happens, you’re always looking at how we could have figured out that this was a multi-residential site that needed to be licensed and who should do that in the City,” she said.

“I have quite a few licensed rooming houses in my ward and they have been licensed for many years. They are run safely and neighbours don’t need to worry about a fire catching there and jumping to their home.”

Mark Richardson with the advocacy group HousingNowTO said incidents like the one on Coxwell Avenue reinforce the need for licensing, registration, and enforcement along with increased housing supply.

“Rooming houses are always a challenge and because there’s been sort of a patchwork across the city over the last 20-some years since amalgamation that they were allowed in some areas, they weren’t allowed in other areas … all it meant was there were a lot of illegal, unregulated rooming houses,” he said.

“We need a regulation format so that all of the illegal rooming houses come into compliance, they get insurance, they get inspections.

“Across the board, we need to create more housing options for people who can only afford under $1,000 a month in rent within the city … there are a lot of people who $1,000, $800, $500 a month is the most they can afford and rent every month and there’s nothing really being created in the city of Toronto at those rents without a lot of government supports.”