One man dead after fire in the Junction

Five other residents in rooming house escaped safely

Aman in his 40s who recently moved in to a Dupont St. rooming house died early Sunday morning after a two-alarm fire broke out on the second floor of the semi-detached house.

Toronto Fire and police were called to1569 Dupont St., between Franklin Ave. and Perth Ave., around 12:20 a.m. Sunday and found the second floor of the building fully engulfed in flames.

Twelve fire trucks and 45 firefighters knocked down the fire in 11 minutes, said Toronto Fire Capt. Mike Strapko. Firefighters found a man without vital signs in a third-floor bedroom. He was taken outside, where firefighters performed CPR. The man could not be revived and was pronounced dead on scene.

Police have not released his identity and are currently working on contacting his next of kin.

The owner of the property, Manuel Faria, identified the victim as Paul Ventura. Faria, who has co-owned the building for about six years, said Ventura had been renting a room from him for five or six months.

Faria, who occupies the front room on the second floor of the building, was not home during the fire but was nearby. He said neighbours called the authorities after seeing smoke and flames coming from the back of the house.

“When I come out I see the police, the fireman, the ambulance here. That’s what I see, nothing else.”

Ventura lived in a room at the back of the house on the third floor, the owner said. Faria said he didn’t know much about the tenant, but called him a “nice guy” who used to work in landscaping.

Tonne Jack, who lives in the building next door, said she didn’t know her new neighbour well, either, but had spoken with the gentleman a few times since he moved in.

“He’s just funny. He’s always saying something funny. He’s always sitting on the veranda, chilling,” she said.

Strapko said an autopsy will be scheduled in coming days to determine the exact cause of death.

The five other residents of the house got to safety by themselves, Strapko said. A family of six had to be evacuated from the roof of a neighbouring building after the flames from next door cut off their escape route.

Toronto Fire left the scene early Sunday morning, with police remaining at the scene. The Ontario Fire Marshal has taken over the investigation. Toronto police are also investigating the possibility that the property was an illegal rooming house.

Strapko said the fire serves as an important reminder for everyone to ensure they have working smoke detectors in their homes and a wellpractised fire-escape plan. He said it is unclear whether the Dupont St. property had working smoke alarms.

Faria said that as far as he knows, the house’s smoke detectors were functioning properly.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know exactly what happened. I know the smoke detector works.” With files from Jackie Hong and Stephanie Werner