Two children, two women die in fire

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

A firefighter works at the scene of fire at 11 Woodlark Pl. on Tuesday in which four people died.

WINNIPEG -- An infant girl remains in critical condition following a house fire Tuesday night that left two children and two adult women dead, police said this morning.

Members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service rushed five injured people to hospital, including two young girls and their infant sister, after a fire at a side-by-side home at 11 Woodlark Pl., in northwest Winnipeg.

However, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Natalie Aitken confirmed early this morning four people were dead in what she classified as a unbelievable tragedy.

She said two adult women were killed, as well as two girls. The infant remains in critical condition in hospital.

"You have to understand that the situation is still very much ongoing," she said. "We have some circumstances in this case with respect to ensuring the identification is proper, to ensuring next of kin is notified."

It's believed one of the adult women was visiting Canada from outside Canada, which Aitken did not confirm.

Property documents indicate the home’s owners were Zebunesa Sadiq, who died in the fire, and Hamid Farooq, who wasn’t home when the fire happened.

Their daughters were identified by those who knew them as Fayza, 9, and her younger sister, Alysa.

Another infant daughter was born this past summer.

Damages have been estimated at $80,000.

Crews worked to try and revive the people in the fire outside the West Kildonan home before they were taken to hospital, Acting Platoon Chief Don Shellrude said Tuesday night. It appeared the fire victims were suffering from smoke inhalation, he said.

"It's tough. You don't want to lose people," Shellrude said. "And that's always a potential when you have fires."

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Deputy Chief of Operations Bill Clark said the fire remains under investigation. He said he couldn’t say if the house had working fire detectors or not, but said the victims were pulled out of the home very quickly.

He said the home was filled with thick black smoke.

"In this case, our crews extracted the victims and immediately, the paramedics from both sides were engaged with the patients in terms of... trying to stabilize their symptoms," said Clark.

"Smoke is extremely deadly," said Clark, who said it can take "just seconds" to overcome someone.

"In probably 99 per cent of all fire casualties are due to smoke, and it’s the carbon monoxide and other products of combustion that are in the smoke, that actually are the fatal process."

He said with any fire carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide will be present, and both are "very, very deadly." He said the smoke in the home was dense, and firefighters responding would have to feel their way through the residence to find the victims.

"The critical message on this...(is for people) to maintain their smoke detectors and to have an escape drill in the home, should fires happens," he said. "Those are critical things because fires can hit anyone, at anytime, anywhere, any social strata."

The fire is believed to have started around 8:30 p.m. in the home’s basement. Four pumps responded, as well as additional vehicles, including medical responders, Shellrude said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze by 9:20 p.m.

"No. 1 here, at this call, is the people in the house. The fire becomes totally secondary," Shellrude said.

Shift fought deadly fire in 2007

The firefighters who responded to Tuesday night’s fire were the same shift that fought a fatal fire at 15 Gabrielle Roy Pl. on Feb. 4, 2007, Shellrude said. Two firefighters were killed on that night, and it remains a difficult memory for many city firefighters.

"It took me a good year just to come down from that incident. I mean, I still think about it all the time," Shellrude said. "The biggest thing at this time of night, it’s not that late, you just don’t expect to go to a call and have five red patients that have to be worked on."

"I felt sick at the sight of it," he said. "When I see a family, it seems to touch home."

No firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, he said.

"Being firefighters, there’s more to it than just fighting fires," he said. "It’s the worst fear of every firefighter... is to roll up and start carrying people out from the fire or the smoke."

Alex Forrest, who heads the local firefighters union, offered condolences from the union this morning.

"On behalf of every one of the 1,500 firefighters in Winnipeg, we are just devastated by the tragedy that took place this morning at 11 Woodlark Place in North West Winnipeg. Our hearts, prayers and thoughts go out to the family and friends of the people involved in this tragedy," said Forrest.

Neighbours, school stunned

Lissette Jilani and her husband, Tommy Jilani, said their neighbours are nice people who moved to Canada from Pakistan.

Residents of the street said the family in the Woodlark Place fire had an school-aged daughter, a toddler daughter and a six-month-old baby. Neighbours estimated the family had lived in the home for about two years.

The oldest child visited the Jilanis to play, she said. "She’s friendly, very friendly," Lissette Jilani said.

The three children lived with their mother and father in the home. One of the parents' mothers was visiting and staying with them, she said.

People who live on the street said neighbours there look out for each other. They said they saw little girls play outside the home together.

"We’re just all close," said Donna Daniels, who lives on the street.

Seven Oaks School Division superintendent Brian O’Leary said that one of the children was a Grade 4 student at Forest Park School.

Seven Oaks had a crisis team at the school early Wednesday morning, including a psychologist, a social worker, and a counsellor.

But O’Leary also sent substitute teachers to Forest Park to cover for classroom teachers.

"It hit the staff right in the gut," he said. "We brought in additional substitute teachers, because the staff was hit hard."

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca