Woman who died in west-end Toronto fire was new to Canada, source says

A woman who died in a house fire in Toronto’s west end Wednesday has been identified as Jessica Denis Pérez Ocampo, a source confirmed to CBC Toronto.

The young woman from Mexico was fairly new to Canada and did not live in the Dufferin Grove residence where the fire took place, according to the source.

Crews responded to the fire at a house on Rusholme Road north of College Street just after midnight. Toronto paramedics said at the time that a woman had been pronounced dead at the scene, and four people were taken to hospital, one with critical injuries.

The fire was extinguished later that morning and the house is still standing.

WATCH | 1 dead, 4 injured in west-end fire early Wednesday: 

1 dead, 4 injured in Dufferin Grove house fire

2 days ago

Duration 3:18

A woman is dead and a man is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after an overnight fire near College and Dufferin streets. CBC’s Ali Chiasson has more on the investigation.

Pérez Ocampo’s mother and sister also live in Toronto, according to the source.

CBC Toronto reached out to her family Friday, but they requested privacy.

A GoFundMe has been set up in her name to raise funds for the family.

Toronto police previously said its homicide unit was made aware of the situation because all unexplained or sudden deaths are treated as suspicious until the cause of death is known, but it had not started an investigation.

The province’s Office of the Fire Marshal is leading the investigation.

Toronto police said Friday they would provide an update on the fire investigation later in the day.

Sean Driscoll, spokesperson for the Office of the Fire Marshal, said in an email Friday that the investigation is still in its preliminary stages and investigators remained on the scene. The office’s investigation is limited to the cause, origin and circumstance of the fire, he said.

Source