Police identify 4 victims of Oshawa house fire
Posted March 31, 2021 1:09 pm.
Last Updated March 31, 2021 1:59 pm.
Durham police have identified the four victims, including two children, that died in an Oshawa row house fire last week.
The fire broke out just before 1 a.m. March 22 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.
Fire crews recovered the bodies of two adults and a day later, the bodies of two children were found in the home.
On Wednesday, police identified the deceased as Terrence Pottie, 66, Paul LeBlanc, 57, Cristian Duguay-Sterling, 11, and his sibling Lucas Duguay-Sterling, 9, of Olive Avenue in Oshawa.
Five people made it out of the century-old row home after the fire broke. Four of those people were taken to hospital for injuries, but most were released the same day.
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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.
