Victims of ‘suspicious’ house fire last week identified as family of 3 from Brampton, Ont.
Peel Regional Police have identified the remains of three family members who were found at the site of a “suspicious” fire which tore through their home in Brampton last week.
Crews were called to the area of Big Sky Way and Van Kirk Drive at around 1:30 p.m. on March 7 for a home that was engulfed in flames.
Firefighters encountered heavy smoke and flames at the blaze, which ultimately gutted two homes. The fire was so intense that at least one of the homes collapsed.
Sifting through the wreckage the following day, the Office of the Fire Marshall discovered human remains, but they were not sure how many people had died.
In a news release Friday, police said they worked closely with the coroner to identify all the remains. They said they have identified those who perished in the fire as 51-year-old Rajiv Warikoo; his wife, 47-year-old Shilpa Kotha; and their 16-year-old daughter, Mahek Warikoo.
All three lived at the home, police said.
Speaking with CP24 Friday, Peel police Const. Taryn Young said the fire has been deemed suspicious.
“At this time we are investigating this with our homicide bureau and we are deeming this as suspicious as the Ontario Fire Marshal has deemed that this fire was not accidental,” Young said.
Images from the scene showed the home reduced to a charred pile of rubble.
“There’s not much left to it,” Young said when asked about the possible cause of the fire. “Looking into something like that as a fire marshal, I’m sure it’s very tough when there is not much left to look at. But we are exhausting all avenues.”
She said the coroner is also working to determine exactly how the three family members died.
Young also acknowledged that the deadly fire has “devastated” the local community in Brampton and said investigators are working “around the clock” to determine the cause.
One neighbour who spoke to CP24 described the three people who died as “a good family” who greeted their neighbours and were seen riding bikes around the area frequently.
“That is so, so tragic. My neighbour’s daughter and their daughter was about the same age and we saw them playing all the time and it was very sad to hear that news,” neighbour Kenneth Yousaf said.
Shilpa Kotha (left) is shown alongside her 16-year-old daughter Mahek Warikoo (middle) and her husband Rajiv Warikoo (right) in this family photo. (Facebook)
Yousaf estimated the family had lived on the street for about 15 years and said he never noticed any problems with them.
He said he was alerted to the fire last Thursday by his mother-in-law, who heard a big “bang.”
“When we came out, the house was on fire. So sad. Within a few hours, everything was down to the ground,” Yousaf said.
In a news release, police said they are continuing to investigate the deaths of the three family members and urged anyone with information to come forward.
“The circumstances surrounding the house fire remains the focus of an active investigation, and anyone with information or video footage (dashcam or otherwise) is urged to contact Homicide detectives,” police said in their release.
The investigation into the fire is being handled by PRP’s Homicide and Missing Persons Bureau, which is working closely with the Office of the Fire Marshall (OFM) and the coroner.
The OFM told CP24 Friday that its investigators have completed their scene analysis and are continuing their work to determine the cause, origin, and circumstance of the fire.
– With files from CP24 Reporter Courtney Heels
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