Man, child taken to hospital after a 3-alarm fire rips through Vaughan mansion

Once the fire took hold in the attic it was 'very difficult to control,' deputy fire chief says

CBC.ca
Sept. 27, 2017
By CBC News

A man and child have been taken to hospital following a three-alarm fire at a mansion in Vaughan early Wednesday morning.

Vaughan Deputy Fire Chief Deryn Rizzi said one of the patients is suffering from "significant injuries," but would not specify which one.

Firefighters were called to the house on Ava Place in Kleinburg at 5:22 a.m.

Rizzi said when firefighters arrived on the scene they saw "heavy flames" coming from the back of the house and the roof.
"They tried to make entry ... but the floor was spongy from high heat conditions, and it was untenable for them to go in," Rizzi told CBC Toronto.

Cell phones were burned in the fire

Rizzi said it took some time for fire services to be called because the resident's cell phones were plugged into the wall in the kitchen area, where the fire is thought to have started.

Rizzi had been told that a woman living in the house may have tried to knock on her neighbour's doors, but wasn't able to alert anyone. The woman then drove to a decommissioned fire station on Islington Avenue and picked up a telephone with a direct line to 911, Rizzi said.

A 'conduit of heat'

The fire took very little time to spread due to the structure of the house, which has a large open attic above the kitchen.

"The attic is open space, and flames move quickly in there," said Rizzi.

The roof, which is made of combustible cedar shakes, has a copper lining as well, which Rizzi says acts as a "conduit of heat."

"As soon as the fire took hold in the attic, it moved across the structure very rapidly. When it gets into the attic space it's very difficult to control after that."

Investigators with the Ontario Fire Marshal arrived on the scene Wednesday afternoon, and will be conducting a joint investigation with York Regional Police and the Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service.

Rizzi estimates the damage could be well above $500,000.