Fire victims include homeowner, grandson,
Fundraising pages set up to help family of victims
Victims of a deadly fire in the city’s east end Friday were identified by friends and family on crowd-funding site GoFundMe and on social media.
Jana Jansons, who property records show was the owner of the home on Gainsborough Road, was identified on a GoFundMe page as one victim, along with her grandson Kai.
Amanda Freimanis was also identified on the fundraising page and on social media tributes. The identity of the fourth victim is not known.
Arija, who is the mother of Kai and the daughter of Jansons, according to the post, was taken to hospital with injuries from the fire.
Andréa Tóth, a neighbour who lived down the street from the fire scene, said Arija worked as a yoga instructor. She added the young boy was energetic and frequently spoke to other community members.
Jansons is listed as having worked as an administrative assistant for the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Toronto between 2006-07.
The GoFundMe organized by Sandra Memenis, who identified herself as a cousin, said Arija survived the fire by jumping out of a window.
“My heart hurts for this senseless loss of life and I’m still trying to process it … I am in shock right now with the news and my mother’s heart breaks into a million sharp pieces for Arija’s loss of her beautiful little boy, but I absolutely refuse to be paralyzed with inaction because of it,” reads a message on the GoFundMe page, which urged people to donate.
As of late Saturday night, that fundraising page had raised more than $23,000.
A separate GoFundMe started by a friend of Arija’s had raised more than $14,000.
“We have decided to put this fundraiser together to help her through what is to be one of the most challenging times in her life. Not only will she have to heal from the injuries she’s incurred she must now rebuild her life from the ground up,” the GoFundMe’s description reads.
Toronto police declined to release any details about the victims and said there were no updates as of Saturday evening.
“We’re dealing with a considerable cold period, that has some impacts on the logistics of
the investigation. The team anticipates the investigation will take several days. There is no update to cause or origin at this time,” Toronto deputy fire chief Larry Cocco told reporters at the scene earlier in the day.
Emergency crews were called to the three-alarm fire in the Coxwell Avenue and Gerrard Street East area, around 4:30 a.m. Friday.
Six people were pulled from the home on what happened to be the coldest night of the year, with the city under an extreme cold alert.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they saw one person scrambling out of a window on the second floor of the home, which was engulfed in flames, Toronto fire district chief Stephan Powell told the Star.
It’s believed to be one of the deadliest fires in Toronto in decades.