A Trenton man has died of injuries suffered in an Aug. 23 fire – and in an attempt to prevent further deaths, the city’s firefighters are stepping up efforts to ensure area homes have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
Raven Cyril Dagnall, 24, died Aug. 26 in hospital, Quinte West OPP announced Wednesday.
Quinte West Deputy Fire Chief Dan Smith said Dagnall was alone in the Queen Street apartment he shared with one other person.
An investigation by Quinte West firefighters and Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal has ended, Smith said.
“This was a kitchen/cooking-related fire,” Smith said, explaining the fire began in a pot on the stove.
Firefighters with Station 1 in Trenton received a report of the fire at about 5:30 p.m., he said.
“The fire was contained just to the unit where the fire occurred.
“It was a multi-unit home and there were no working smoke alarms in that unit,” Smith said. He said he couldn’t yet comment on whether any charges would be laid.
“The other two units were occupied and they were able to exit without any injury.”
Smith said firefighters had been told Dagnall’s unit was unoccupied. Crews entered the smoke-filled apartment and began to extinguish the flames, most of which were in the kitchen and livingroom.
“As the smoke started to clear we realized in fact there was somebody in there,” Smith said.
Hastings-Quinte paramedics and Quinte West OPP were also at the scene.
Smith said attempts to revive Dagnall began immediately and continued en route to Trenton Memorial Hospital. The patient was airlifted from there to a Toronto hospital, where he died three days later.
It’s the city’s second fatal fire in about eight months.
One person died in a Christmas Day fire, Smith said, attributing the cause to smoking. There were no other injuries.
“Again, that was a no-working-smoke-alarm fire.”
Yet the two deaths have prompted further action by the fire department, the deputy chief said.
“We’ve started a new initiative. After all fatal fires, critical-injury fires, or where there’s no working smoke alarms, we’re actually going back out into those neighbourhoods and we’re doing smoke-alarm surveys in the immediate area of the fire.
“We’ll have our crews out in that neighbourhood this evening.”
He said firefighters will check for working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and will be “going over home-safety fire tips for those with young children.”
They can also help residents to install alarms if needed, Smith said. He stressed it is not about punishing people.
“We’re not looking to do ticketing. It’s reactive and proactive at the same time.
“We just don’t want another one of these to happen.
Smith said it’s not clear whether a working alarm could have saved Dagnall’s life, but the general message to the public remains unchanged: “Smoke alarms do save lives.”
Link to original article in The Intelligencer: Trenton fire victim dies in hospital