Father, daughter die after North York house fire.
Neighbour Eugenio Branzanti stands outside 14 Kemp Square Monday where he witnessed a fatal fire on Sunday afternoon.
Staff photo/ANDREW PALAMARCHUK
A man and his daughter are dead after a fire ripped through their North York home Sunday, March 7.
Emergency crews were called to 14 Kemp Square near Jane Street and Lawrence Avenue just before 3 p.m.
Ken Einboden handed his four-month-old daughter Kendra to a friend outside and then went back into the burning home to try to rescue his 12-year-old daughter Britney.
Neighbour Eugenio Branzanti heard screams, saw black smoke and called 911.
"My friend ran to the front door and tried to go in, but he couldn't see anything because of the smoke," Branzanti said. "He then yelled for Ken to get out but no response."
Branzanti's friend, Paul, then ran to the back of the home because there were sounds of breaking glass.
"He thought maybe they were trying to get out...but it turned out that the fire was breaking the glass," said Branzanti. "We told Paul to get away from the house, and we waited for firefighters."
Fire crews found Einboden and Britney on the second floor and pulled them out. Neither had vital signs. Einboden was later pronounced dead. Britney was revived but died in hospital the next day.
Kendra is fine.
Einboden's wife Jackie was out playing bingo with a friend when the fire erupted.
Toronto Fire Services District Chief Stephan Powell said the blaze started in the kitchen. "But what was burning or how it caught (on fire) I'm not sure."
Police and the fire marshal's office are investigating.
"It's a tragedy that people had to die," Powell said.
"It's also a bit of a mystery how something like this could happen in the middle of the day."
Branzanti, who lives two houses away, described Einboden as a great guy.
"He cared about the kids in the neighbourhood," he said. "The city would never cut the grass in the island (on the street). And he was always the one to go and cut all the grass over there."
Branzanti said he wishes he could have done something to prevent the deaths.
"We were thinking of maybe throwing a rock through the window, but we didn't know if it could possibly fuel the fire and make things worse."
There were 10 fire trucks at the scene of the single-alarm blaze.