ELYEA o@ca.on.simcoe_county.nottawasaga.collingwood.the_connection 2008-06-20 published
Fire claims life of local woman
By John EDWARDS,
Page 3
The death of a woman in a townhouse fire in Collingwood on Saturday
has rocked the entire neighbourhood, according to one resident.
Fire crews were called to a town house complex on Matthew Way
at about 10 p.m., on Saturday.
According to Collingwood Fire Chief Trent
ELYEA, the fire started
in the kitchen while a man and a woman were in the home. He said
they were not responsive when crews arrived and could have been
asleep. The fire has been ruled as "accidental in nature," and
started in the stove area.
"It was not a malfunction," said fire prevention officer Robert
BOLT.
BOLT pegged the damage at about $125,000.
The woman was taken to Collingwood General and Marine Hospital
where she was pronounced dead.
The man was airlifted to Hospital in Hamilton where he was put
in a hyperbaric chamber, according to
ELYEA, to bring his carbon
monoxide levels down before he could be treated for his injuries
- burns and smoke inhalation.
There were also two dogs and a cat in the home at the time. One
of the cats died in the fire, the second lived and paramedics
attempted to revive the dog but it was then taken to a local
veterinarian.
ELYEA was not aware of the condition of the dog.
Neighbours who lived next door confirmed that Ken and Sharon
McDOUGALL lived in unit 306 at the Matthew Way complex, although
Collingwood Ontario Provincial Police have not released the name
of the victim as they are still attempting to notify the next
of kin.
Julie, who asked that The Connection not publish her last name,
said the couple kept to themselves, adding Mrs.
McDOUGALL had
an illness that kept her in bed a lot oft he time.
"They were very nice people," she said.
Julie said she wasn't aware that a fire was happening until her
neighbour told her.
"Because there was no flames," she said.
She said it has had a big impact on the area.
"It's sad, it's a tragedy," she said. Another neighbour Drew
who also didn't want his last name published, said everyone in
the complex is feeling a sense of loss.
"Everybody is going to have a day of mourning," he said.
Julie said her kids have taken the incident very hard. Her nine-year-old
daughter set up a memorial outside the home with a cross and
flowers.
"She is very emotional," she said. Julie said some neighbours
have been having nightmares over the incident and others had
to leave their homes for the night because they were so upset.
"It's something that you always fear can happen, but you never
hope it happens," she said.
ELYEA said the smoke alarms were working but the alarms tended
to go off quite regularly and neighbours assumed it was another
false alarm.
"That is accurate," he said. "There was a complacency issue."
A crew of three firefighters arrived on the scene first and was
able to get both occupants outside so paramedics could treat
them.
"They did an excellent knockdown and excellent recovery,"
ELYEA
said of his crew.
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