Drug manufacturing suspected cause of downtown fatal fire
Vernacomp Limited, owner of the home at 116 Centre Street, pleads guilty to six charges, fined at $40,000
By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express
Fire investigators suspect illegal drug manufacturing could have contributed to the cause of a fatal January 2018 fire in downtown Oshawa.
On Jan. 8, 2018, a fire broke out at a home at 116 Centre Street, which claimed four lives including two children.
It was confirmed there were no working smoke alarms at the home, and the Ontario Fire Marshal launched an investigation soon afterward.
As a result, charges were laid against the house’s registered owner, Vernacomp Limited, and its directors Werner Fritz Wilhelm Schwiering and Marisa Ersilla Schwiering under the Ontario Fire Code.
On March 26, guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Vernacomp and its directors, leading to $40,000 in fines being imposed against the company.
Two tenants of the building, Lori Jane McMullen and Alysha McDonald are also charged with failing to notify the landlord there were no working smoke alarms in the house.
These charges are yet to be proven in court.
A statement of facts read by prosecutor Rhonda VenderLinde included portions of the official investigation of the Ontario Fire Marshal.
It was determined the fire began on a kitchen table on the main floor of the building after gas in the area exploded.
There were also several aerosol cans found at the scene of the fire.
Some witnesses described seeing the occupant of the main floor, 50-year-old Steven McDonald, who died in the fire, returning into the building and removing items prior to firefighters arriving on the scene.
Despite this, investigators said they could not definitively pinpoint drug manufacturing as the cause of the fire.
Durham Regional Police Service also investigated the incident, but no criminal charges were laid.
DRPS investigators worked with the Coroner’s Office, Oshawa Fire Services, Ontario Fire Marshal and the Crown Attorney’s Office to review the evidence into the case, specifically whether there was enough to support charges such as arson or negligence causing death or bodily harm.
“After reviewing the information and evidence available and after consultations with the Crown Attorney’s Office, there is insufficient evidence in this incident to support the laying of any criminal charges and no reasonable prospects for conviction,” a Durham Regional Police statement read in November 2018.