Alarms sounded too late for family to escape

Wall-mounted units, vaulted cottage ceiling

A family of four who died in a Christmas Eve cottage blaze may not have had a chance to escape by the time fire alarms went off, according to fire investigators.

The fire was probably caused accidentally, but smoke first rose to the cottage’s vaulted ceiling before setting off the wall-mounted fire alarms.

“This, regretfully, I believe, played a role in preventing the victims from escaping safely from the structure,” said Scott Evenden, a fire investigator with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office.

The blaze broke out shortly before 4 a. m. on Dec. 24, 2016, at a cottage on Stoney Lake, in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario.

It claimed the lives of Geoff Taber, 56, his wife Jacquie Gardner, 47, and their sons Scott, 15, and Andrew, 13, along with two dogs.

Taber and his wife were both lawyers and the family lived in the Riverdale neighbourhood of Toronto.

Evenden said that damage was so extensive they couldn’t determine exactly what sparked the fire.

But through fire pattern analysis, as well as examination of the utilities and appliances, they were able to determine that the blaze started in the main floor living room.

Evenden said t he f i re could have had several potential sources: the woodburning fireplace, the electric baseboard heaters or the propane cooking appliances.

“There’s no reason to believe it’s a suspicious fire. It was an accidental fire — we just can’t give you the cause,” he told reporters.

Evenden said the main staircase in the cottage went from the living room to the upper level, with a vaulted ceiling above.

Investigators know there were wall- mounted smoke alarms in the cottage because they found 9- volt batteries in the rubble, likely from smoke alarms, and they interviewed relatives of the Taber family.

But Evenden said t he smoke would have risen to fill the vaulted ceiling before it reached the wall-mounted smoke alarms — too late for the family to escape.

“You have very little time to get out, by then — if any,” said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Jason Folz who investigated.

Fire Chief Chuck Pedersen said he did not expect the cause of the fire ever to be determined.

The steel roof had collapsed and at the end there were just a few exterior walls left standing, covered in ash and rubble.

He added that he did not want to leave the impression that wall- mounted smoke alarms should not be used.

“You can definitely use them,” he said, but check the manufacturer’s instructions.

“And if you have a vaulted ceiling, you should install the smoke alarm near the highest point — that’s where the smoke’s going to go.”