Boy missing after Markham fire
Firefighters can’t search because of concerns over structure of townhouse
A12-year-old boy remained unaccounted for on Monday after fire gutted a Markham home on Sunday.
The fire began before 10 a.m. in a townhouse near the intersection of Fairlawn and Bur Oak avenues.
York Regional Police said emergency services were the first to arrive at the scene.
They took three people — a woman, a 14-year-old boy and six-year-old girl — to hospital with burn injuries.
The fire was brought under control shortly after.
Investigators were not able to search for the boy in the burned out remains of the house because of the severe damage to the structure.
“We physically haven’t been into the structure yet,” Sgt. Andrew Bell told reporters at the scene on Sunday. “There are some concerns with the structure itself.”
The house was gutted by the blaze, which took off half of its roof and appeared to have spread the adjacent house, with broken ends of eavestroughs and melted shingles hanging overhead.
The windows were shattered and interior was reduced charred support beams.
The Office of the Fire Marshal has assigned an investigator, a forensic engineer and a supervisor to assist with the case, but it may take a few days for them to get into the house.
“How it actually got started I can’t get into, that’s obviously something That’ll come through further investigation,” Bell said.
“But a large bang was reported to police.”
Fairlawn and Bur Oak avenues remained closed Monday for the investigation.