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Fatal fire started on couch: report

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 02/7/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A fire that killed five people last month at a Woodlark Place home started on a couch, a spokesman for the Office of the Fire Commissioner said Monday.

The spokesman said the investigation by the arson strike force into the blaze was finished and the official cause was deemed "undetermined."

"The investigation supports that the fire started in a couch located in the lower level of the home," said an email from the spokesman. "However, without any specific information about what was happening inside the home at the time of the fire, investigators were not able to determine the exact events that led up to this fire occurring and therefore were unable to definitely determine the exact cause of the fire."

The fire killed four-month-old Hoorya Sadiq, and her older sisters, Fayza Peyawary, 9, and Aliza Sadiq, 4.

It also killed their mother, Zebunesa Sadiq, 33, and their grandmother, Shemeen Akhtar, 60.

Winnipeggers have raised thousands of dollars to support the father of the children, Hamid Farooq, who is having their bodies sent back to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, newly released statistics from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service show residential fires this winter are up compared to last year. But they're about the same as two years ago.

According to their tracking, there were 92 fires during the past two months: 55 in December and 37 in January.

By comparison, there were 78 during the same period last year: 42 in December 2010 and 36 in January 2011.

Looking back two years ago, there were 91 fires with 53 occurring in December 2009 and 38 in January 2010.

The data were compiled from the fire's dispatch and first responders calls it answered. It includes serious and minor fires, from a pot of food burning on the stove to fatal tragedies. Garage and shed fires are excluded.

-- staff

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 7, 2012 B2

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