User:Heartfox/Rupert Hotel fire

Heartfox/Rupert Hotel fire
Date	December 23, 1989
Venue	Rupert Hotel
Location	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Deaths	10
Convicted	Gordon Freeman
Verdict	Guilty
Convictions	10 counts of manslaughter
Sentence	10 years on each count; served concurrently

The Rupert Hotel fire

Background

Fire

Aftermath

182 parliament

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/search.jsp?Ntt=%22rupert+hotel%22

G&M DEC 26 1989 https://www.proquest.com/docview/1237329997/

dec 23 1989 saturday afternoon
30 people homeless
1 man charged with 3 counts of 2nd degree murder, 4th charge pending
rented rooms monthly

TS DEC 26 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436083047/

investgators search for victims again
"frozen charred remains:
3-storey rooming house
18 trucks, 100 firefighters originally responded
4 men dead by dec 26
around 5pm saturday dec 23
power in area went down; police station + hundreds of apartments and businesses
9 homeless, 21 others forced to find other shelter
Ralph Oral Stone, 59
Vincent Clarke, 47
2.5 metres of ice and water in basement disrupted investigation
damage said to be ~900,000 after demolition
antique shop on queen st side of building was severely damaged
gordon freeman, 49, charged
caused by trash set on fire in hallway
unrelated fire at another rooming house occurred dec 25

TS DEC 27 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436093095/

demolition begins dec 27
9 people missing, including 2 children
with 6 people, deadliest fire in metro toronto in the 1980s
4 bodies found after fire put out; 2 found dec 26 but couldnt be removed because of rubble/ice
deliberately set
2 floors collapsed

TS DEC 27 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436103961/

people described it as a deathtrap; no fire extinguishers (previous fire put out with bucket); flophouse since 1950s
alarms present
rooming house located above a restaurant and convenience store
fire started on second floor
the house was known as the Rupert Hotel
31 rooms with most for single men, though some fit two; no women; went for 275-300 a month
said to have bad decor with "layers of yellowed paint over curling wallpaper, holes in walls, broken radiators, naked bulbs, cockroaches and flimsy doors that could be "kicked down with a single boot.""
regular fights
some survivors stayed at salvation army hostel
"The building's wooden interior collapsed like a house of cards in the intense fire and thousands of gallons of water hosed on the building by firefighters have turned to ice, making it nearly impossible to sort through the debris."
arson
'The fire may act as a catalyst in a drive to clean up Toronto rooming houses. Mayor Art Eggleton has already ordered a report on whether alarms were working and fire exits were properly placed."

G&M DEC 28 1989 https://www.proquest.com/docview/1237329971/

gordon freeman, 49, unemployed; once evicted from the house for "allegedly eccentric behaviour"; Da Silva says he did so because he was a nuisance but took him back because winter was coming
Da Silva son said the residents were friendly, good people and liked to drink
110-year-old building
6 bodies found by dec 28, 9 unaccounted for
basement full of ice due to firefighter water
1/3 of the interior collapsed; debris
saturday night fire
29/31 rooms were occupied and rented to single men for $275-300 a month. 31 people lived there.
said to have thin walls, dirt, cockroaches, overflowing toilets
son over owner denied this, said it was well-inspected and last one was 5 months before
building purchased by Nuno Da Silva in 1985 for $500,000
most of those made homeless went to hostels
da silva said there was an arson in 1988 but was minor and put out by tenants
only 3 of the 6 victims found had been identified because they were burned so badly
stone and clarke single and unemployed
2 bodies were found on tuesday afternoon but could not be "cut out" (with a chainsaw?) until wednesday
building constructed in late 1870s, called "Elephant and Castle"
in 1978 6 died in fires at 2 rooming houses on sherbourne; arson suspected but no charges

TS DEC 28 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436093005/

planning inspection blitz of large city rooming houses
460 licensed rooming houses which are inspected annually by 110 inspectors
rupert hotel passed inspection by fire/building officials; had fire extinguishers, working alarms, working smoke detectors
various responses to rooming house problem/comments

TS DEC 28 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436109289/

missing people came forward/returned in the days later so the initial feared death toll of 15 was reduced
demolition to start today (dec 28)

TCP DEC 29 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/251538704/

roomers association says inspections lackluster and low standards
54 of 460 rooming houses have 12 or more rooms; the largest were to be inspeted in the blitz
"Toronto's fire chief said no alarm bells sounded in the rooming house."
"Building owner Nuno Da Silva said the rooming house had an automatic alarm system but, for some reason, "the fire alarm didn't go off."
"the corner of Queen and Parliament streets, a gritty neighborhood that's home to some of the city's seedier rooming houses and emergency shelters."
"Police say the fire started when a pile of garbage was lit in a hallway. Up to 45 people were in the building at the time."
"The last inspection of the building was in the spring. The building met all city standards at that time"
"Shapcott said the growing number of homeless in Toronto has placed a strain on rooming houses -- a problem in other Canadian cities as well." (more background)

G&M DEC 29 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/385701758/

" 29 residents lived in tiny, cockroach-visited rooms, for which they paid $275 to $300 a month"
"Thousands of Canada's poor live in rooming houses and cheap hotels ... But it is a diminishing resource. In Toronto, there are 460 licenced rooming houses with at least four rooms. But there were once about 1,400 rooming houses in the city, in the 1960s and early 1970s"
"In part, this is because real-estate values have risen across the country. It often makes more economic sense to put up a condominium. And well-to-do homeowners who once fled to the suburbs are now moving back into city core areas. They have bought up many of the old rooming houses, and where 15 people once lived, now a family of three or four may live."
"In North York in Metro Toronto, Mayor Mel Lastman made an election issue last year of banning rooming houses. They have become symbols of urban decay and personal ruin - the type of place seen as fit for ex- convicts, ex-psychiatric patients, alcoholics and students."
Toronto also began to regulate its rooming houses, beginning in 1974, after several fires and other incidents drew attention to their hazards. Now, it may move to monthly inspections, from yearly or twice yearly ones, said Michael Nixon, the city's commissioner of buildings and inspections."

TS DEC 29 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436092500/

"Teams will descend on the city's 54 large rooming houses on [Jan 2]"
Demolition began yesterday [Dec 28] ... Wreckers cut down a tree next to the building, removed a bus shelter adjacent to the structure and pulled down the north wall. Work had been delayed for several hours yesterday after police found that existing architectural plans for the building were inadequate. A draftsperson was sent into the ruins to measure existing rooms and produce drawings for court."
" Normally, it would take a wrecking crew about four days to level a ruin this size, but demolition will likely take up to two weeks, he said."
"There are 460 licenced rooming houses in Toronto, including the 54 large ones with 15 or more rooms"
"Shanahan said his fire prevention staff of 36 is already over- burdened with Toronto's building boom. "Our staff hasn't been increased since the 1960s," he said. "Toronto has grown tremendously and the workload has increased substantially.""
""But no amount of people would have corrected what happened on Saturday. We just finished inspecting it in August, and someone does a stupid thing. I don't know what you do about that."

TS DEC 30 1989 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436106745/

demolition continues dec 30, then resumed jan 2 after holiday
"The victims include Vernard Stone, 62, his brother Ralph Stone, 59, Vincent Clark, 46, John Flint, 45, and Edward Finigan, 56."

6&M JAN 1 1990 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/385705797/

3 more bodies found saturday dec 30; unidentified as of jan 1
hotel passed inspection in may

TS JAN 2 1990 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436109712/

blizt starts
"Police say the demolition - which would normally take about four days - could take up to two weeks as the search for bodies continues."

TS JAN 3 1990 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436129534/

6 died of smoke inhalation per autopsies

TS JAN 3 1990 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436131713/

"There were, at last official count, about 550 "known" rooming houses in Toronto. Many more are not licensed. There could be upwards of 8,000 men and women living in them."

TS JAN 4 1990 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436130195/

10TH body found jan 3
"About a quarter of the building collapsed on itself during the blaze on Dec. 23 and has yet to be fully explored. Investigators fear more bodies may be found when workers sift through that rubble, Reesor said."

TS JAN 4 1990 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436127961/

"An inquest that could help prevent further tragedies like the Rupert Hotel fire will have to wait until criminal proceedings are finished"
10th body found jan 3
"The city has ordered an inspection blitz of Toronto's 54 licensed large rooming houses - those with more than 14 units - and inspectors from the building, health and fire departments have begun checking the buildings all over town."
"Some inspectors have admitted privately they think the inspection blitz is a knee-jerk reaction to the Rupert Hotel fire, but others say the added checks will be beneficial in the long run and may ultimately increase the number of required annual inspections for rooming houses of all sizes. But some officials say no amount of planning or precautions can completely protect tenants from an arsonist who deliberately sets fire to a building and blocks paths of escape for people inside."
"Tenant groups have been demanding an inquest since the blaze."

TS JAN 4 1990 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436130954/

Toronto's 460 licensed rooming houses - and possibly hundreds more unlicensed ones

TS JAN 5 1990 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436128159/

2 more of 10 victims names released: David Didow, 51, and Victor Whyte
"Edward Finigan, 56, John Fint, 45, Vincent Clark, 46, Vernard Stone, 62, and his brother Ralph, 59, also perished in the fire."
" Post-mortems on nine of the 10 bodies pulled from the rooming house ruins show the victims died of smoke inhalation."
"The rooming house fire pushed the number of homicides in 1989 to 60, which ties a record set in 1987."
search to end jan 5 (also see https://www.proquest.com/docview/436126998/)

ts 6 JAN 90 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436126684/

"The Rupert Hotel, however, had passed inspection and was re- issued its licence just last May."

GM 20 JAN 90 https://www.proquest.com/docview/1146648949/

city task force report about state of rooming houses released
2/3 of RH with more than 14 units have inadequate fire prevention systems despite inspections
at least 460 RH in city

TS APR 2 90 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436165693/

housign minister john sweeney says no new money availkable for rooming house repairs
rupert hotel coalition angered

TS APR 25 1990 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436168168/

probvincial budegt doesnt allocate any money
mayor art eggleton angered

TS JUN 29 90 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436202446/

province makes some moves

TS SEP 9 90 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436271586/

another RH fire
yearly statistics

TS SEP 15 1990 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436269329/

"Since 1974, at least 46 people have died in Toronto rooming house fires.
In 1974 alone, 18 people died in such blazes, leading the city to license absentee-owned rooming houses. By 1980, all rooming houses were required to register for licences.
The original licensing bylaw, which was approved by the province in 1975, also set minimum safety standards for all rooming houses, including third-floor fire escapes and smoke detectors.
The regulations were blamed for driving out landlords and cutting the number of facilities in half. In early 1978, it was reported that 582 rooming houses had gone out of business since the new bylaw came into effect.
The flophouses of Cabbagetown, for instance - shabby but cheap at $2 a night - did shut down in the 1970s. But they were victims of both stricter rules and the "whitepainters" who moved through downtown neighborhoods at the time.
By 1980, most downtown flophouses, which provided the most basic rooms for the night, were gone."
"Under the strictest interpretation of the Ontario Fire Code, a rooming house is a building with more than three lodgers, living in rooms equipped with either a kitchen or a bathroom, but not both. A flophouse provides just rooms."
" In 1975, an estimated 100,000 Toronto residents lived in rooming houses. Now, housing advocates estimate about 20,000 people are living in about 550 licensed and as many as 800 unlicensed rooming houses."
"After the Rupert Hotel fire, city council spent hours on new guidelines. Much of the impetus came from the Rupert Hotel Coalition, made up of about 25 poverty fighters"

TS SEP 20 1990 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436272856/

grant of 80k given to improve RH

G&M DEC 24 1990 https://www.proquest.com/docview/385538414/
"As a result of the its recommendations, rooming houses in Toronto now are inspected every six months. The city hired 10 new inspectors and will hire 10 more within two years to make those inspections"

TS JAN 15 91 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436337261/

Freeman is charged with killing Donna Marie Cann, Vincent Joseph Clarke, Stanley Blake Dancey, David Donald Didow, Edward Finnigan, John Thomas Flint, Cedomir Sakocit, Ralph Oral Stone, his brother Vernon Stone, and Victor Paul Whyte.

TS JAN 16 1991 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436336416/
Gordon Howard Freeman pleaded not guilty to the 10 second-degree murder charges, but later changed his plea to guilty "after his lawyer and the crown attorney worked out a bargain on the lesser charges."
how the fire started
"The fire victims were: Donna Cann, 31; Vincent Clarke, 45; Stanley Dancy, 62; David Didow, 51; Edward Finnigan, 56; John Thomas Flint, 45; Cedomir Sakotic, 59; Ralph Oral Stone, 59; his brother, Vernon Stone, 54; and Victor Whyte, 51."

Trial starts Jan 16?

G&M JAN 17 1991 https://www.proquest.com/docview/1151210972/

" Gordon Freeman, 50, originally faced 10 counts of second-degree murder. His plea to the lesser offence was accepted after Chief Justice Frank Callaghan of the Ontario Court's General Division was told the accused was not the person who disabled the fire alarms in the Parliament Street rooming house.*The court was told that police interviews with fire personnel and employees and residents of the rooming house failed to determine who had rendered inoperable both the main and backup alarm systems by throwing a manual switch, disconnecting wires and pulling a fuse."
"The fire, which destroyed the building, killed roomers Donna Cann, 31, Vincent Clarke, 45, Stanley Dancy, 62, David Didow, 51, Edward Finnigan, 56, John Thomas Flint, 45, Cedomir Sakotic, 59, Ralph Oral Stone, 59, Vernon Stone, 54, and Victor Whyte, 51. All died of smoke inhalation."
how the fire occurred

G&M Jan 22 https://www.proquest.com/docview/385527200/

jailed for 10 years (concurrent per death). (maximum was life)
judge "said Mr. Freeman cannot be held accountable for the failure of the alarm system in the Parliament Street rooming house, nor for the inadequacy of the fire escapes."
remorse
how the fire occurred
"Chief Justice Callaghan said Mr. Freeman had a criminal record dating back to 1959, with his last previous offence being committed in 1989 before the fire. He had already been evicted once from the Rupert Hotel for untidiness, but he had been allowed back in November before the fire."

TS JAN 22 1991 https://www.proquest.com/docview/436334795/

inquest to begin march 4
"Freeman's 32-year criminal record - which includes convictions for assaulting a peace officer, theft and trafficking"
"Freeman had been kicked out of the Rupert Hotel in the spring of 1989 because of his habitual untidiness.
The day of the fire, he had been admonished by the landlord for setting plastic bags near a heater, which could have started a blaze.
In asking for a 15-year term, Crown Attorney Paul Culver said a stiff sentence is needed to deter others from acting like Freeman."

TS JAN 24 1991 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436329959/

passed innspection a month before?

TS FEB 14 1991 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436351510/

city suing to get back cost of demolishing building

G&M MAR 5 1991 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/385512293/

7/10 victims had alcohol in system
building built in 1886
about 32 rooms on 2nd and 3rd floors, about 10 sq ft each
2nd floor had two fire escapes, 3rd floor one

TS MAR 5 1991 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/436375502/

"five were seriously impaired, while two had enough alcohol in their blood to kill most people, said the pathologist who performed autopsies on the victims."
"all 10 victims died of carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation."
"their reactions would have been significantly impaired by the amount of alcohol they had consumed."
four firefighters received citations for bravery during the rescues, including two who were awarded the Ontario Medal for Bravery."

G&M MAR 6 1991 https://www.proquest.com/canadiannews/docview/385664327/