MONTREAL, March 28 (UPI) -- An early morning fire in a triplex in the Verdun area of Montreal killed four people including a 7-year-old boy, officials say.
A 37-year-old-woman, her 7-year-old son, his 40-year-old aunt and a man in his 40s were killed in the 5 a.m. blaze. Robert Dewitt, the dead boy's father, escaped, rescuing his other son, examiner.com reported Sunday.
About 125 firefighters brought the 5 a.m. five alarm blaze was brought under control.
Rejean Goyette, who lives on the top floor of one of the triplexes, was rescued by firefighters through a window because both the front and back exits were blocked by flames, The Gazette reported.
"My wife woke me up because our smoke detector went off," he said. "They took us through the window to the apartment next door and got us down the ladder."
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Montreal fire department Chief of Operations Luc Robillard said he suspects a smoke detector at one of the triplexes wasn't working properly.
"If there was a functioning smoke detector, we wouldn't be talking about (four) deaths this morning," he said.
