'I can't believe she's gone...'
U of T community mourns loss of international student killed in Scarborough house fire,
EVELYN KWONG The 18-year-old woman killed in a Scarborough house fire Wednesday morning has been identified by a close friend as Chinese international student Helen Guo.
“She was a really kind and friendly girl,” said Vivian Meng, an international student who started at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus with Guo.
The two met in June 2017 after attending U of T’s Green Path program, an admissions program that gives undergraduate students from China a “Canadian-style learning environment” that leads to a degree from the school. The two had just finished their first year. Guo was studying business management at U of T, Scarborough.
“This is a terrible tragedy,” said Bruce Kidd, vice-president and principal of UTSC. “The thoughts of the entire campus community are with the family of the student who was killed in the fire and with the three other students who were in the house.”
Before they started their first year, Meng said she and Guo travelled around Canada to learn more about their new country, visiting Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec for about half a month.
“Every morning (during the trip) she got up and made breakfast for us,” Meng said. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”
Neighbours told the Star the area — largely made up of detached homes with perfectly manicured lawns — has become popular with U of T and Centennial College students.
“There’s tons of students here. They’re all international,” said Brian McConnell, a 10-year resident of the neighbourhood. “So many of these houses all have basement apartments that are rented out to them.”
“I was shocked,” McConnell said. “I hate the feeling that a student died.” With files from Fatima Syed, Inori Roy, and Jenna Moon