Four people were found dead after a house fire in the northern Ontario city of Temiskaming Shores, provincial police said Friday, with the mayor describing what happened as a tragedy that has shaken the small community.
Ontario Provincial Police said officers and firefighters responded to the blaze around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Police said all four people were found dead inside the home.
"The community is in a bit of shock now," Mayor Jeff Laferriere said in a phone interview on Friday.
OPP spokeswoman Const. Siobhan Christo said it took firefighters about half an hour to get the fire under control and it was called fully out in about 75 minutes.
Police did not identify the victims or their relationship to one another. No suspected cause of the fire was immediately released.
OPP said they are investigating alongside the coroner and the fire marshal.
"The fire marshal is planning to be in town all day today and again tomorrow," Christo said.
"No other information will be released at this time, just to ensure that all next of kin have been notified and to maintain the integrity of the investigation."
Laferriere described the city of about 10,000 people, perched on the northern shore of Lake Temiskaming, straddling the Ontario-Quebec border, as a "tight knit community."
"When something like this happens, you know, the community as a whole mourns the loss of any of our residents," he said.
Laferriere said he had visited the scene Thursday night. He said the block around the house had been fenced off as authorities investigated.
As of Friday afternoon, few details had emerged about the fire.
"If there's anything that we can learn going forward, once the information is released, then I think that will help just make sure that something like this doesn't happen again," Laferriere said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.
Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press
