Landlord fined $71,000 after fatal Jane St. apartment fire

A stairwell door that did not latch properly let smoke fill a stairwell of the Jane St. apartment block.

The owner of a Jane St. apartment building where a woman died in an April 2015 blaze will pay $71,000 in fines for fire code infractions.

The landlord pleaded guilty July 15 to breaches including exit signs not being illuminated, no records of tests for emergency lighting and a stairwell door not closing or latching properly, Toronto Fire Service said Monday in a news release.

Firefighters responding to a fire in a second-floor unit of found a 3-year-old boy and his mother unconscious in a fifth-floor stairwell of 2850 Jane St., south of Finch Ave., and the boy’s father unconscious in the same stairwell three floors below.

The woman, believed to be in her 30s, died. The man and boy were hospitalized in critical condition but survived their injuries.

Of the fine, $50,000 was related to the stairwell door not latching properly, which let smoke fill the stairway.

The Ontario Fire Marshal's office said the fire was started by an unattended candle in a bedroom in a second-floor apartment.

“Toronto Fire Service offers its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” said Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop in the news release. “Fire Services is committed to ensuring that life safety risks to Toronto residents — and to our firefighters responding to incidents in the community — are addressed.”