Toronto house fire leaves infant dead, woman critically injured

An infant has died and a woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after they were pulled from a  burning home in the city’s west end overnight.

Firefighters were called to the home on Trethewey Drive, just north of Eglinton Avenue, shortly after 1 a.m.

Crews arrived to find heavy smoke and flames on the back deck and inside the house. Images from the scene showed smoke pouring from the house and firefighters climbing onto the roof.

Several occupants of the home were already outside when firefighters arrived, Toronto Fire said.

Toronto Paramedic Services said they transported a pediatric patient to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, as well as an adult who had serious, possibly life-threatening injuries. Four other patients were assessed at the scene without being transported.  

“On behalf of all the women and men of Toronto Fire Service, I want to extend our deepest condolences to all of those that have been impacted by this extremely tragic fire, especially involving a young child,” Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop said at the scene early Friday.

As many as six people were in the home when the fire broke out, Jessop said. The relationship between the woman and baby who were pulled from the home is not yet clear.

Cause of fire not yet clear

There’s no word so far as to the cause of the fire, which is now under control.

“The bulk of the fire was at the rear of the house, but I’m not going to speculate on the origin or the cause of the fire at this time. That will form part of the investigation,” Jessop said.

The Office of the Fire Marshal has been notified of the blaze and the Toronto Fire Investigations Division and Toronto police will also be investigating.

Jessop said it is too early to tell if the fire might be suspicious.

Fire crews remain on scene to watch for hot spots.

A stretch of Keele Street was closed in the area because of the fire, but has since reopened.