The cause of a fire that killed an elderly woman in her High Park Avenue apartment Saturday, May 2 is still under investigation by the Ontario Fire Marshal.
Firefighters were called to a high-rise building at 100 High Park Ave. around 11:30 a.m. after receiving a report of heavy smoke, according to Toronto Fire Services’ District Chief Stephan Powell.
One of the neighbours tried to break into the woman’s apartment, he said.
“There was lots of smoke in the hallway. He tried kicking the door in,” said Powell.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze, which was contained in the woman’s 25th floor unit, he said. The woman, 70, was taken to St. Joseph’s Health Centre where she was pronounced dead.
She is the city’s 13th fire victim of the year, Powell said. Her name has yet to be released.
“The tragedy may have been averted if there were sprinklers in the building,” Powell said.
Firefighters are set to inspect homes, starting in the Wabash Avenue area, for smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors as part of an initiative called Project Zero.
They are focusing on high risk neighbourhoods first, Powell said, and then expanding across the city.