Inquest held in Winnipeg regarding northern house fires – Thompson Citizen

December 18, 2014

An inquest is wrapping up this week in Winnipeg after hearing about the deaths of three small children and an adult during two house fires on Northern Manitoba First Nations in 2011. Inquests are called if the chief medical examiner believes that the general public can gain something from the information that is made public through such a hearing.

Errabella Harper, a two-and-a-half-month-old, died on Jan. 16, 2011 in a fire in St. Theresa Point, while five other children escaped. Demus James, 73, and his two grandchildren Throne Kirkness, 2, and Kayleigh Okemow, 3, died in a March 14, 2011 house fire at God’s Lake Narrows. These deaths caused the inquest to be ordered by the chief medical examiner.

An outdated space heater is believed to have caused the fire in God’s Lake Narrows, and a malfunctioning wood heating system in the house in St. Theresa Point caused that blaze.

RCMP officers who responded to the fatal house fires spoke on Dec. 15 about the incidents and how residents of neighbouring homes tried to extinguish the flames.

Read More: http://www.thompsoncitizen.net/news/nickel-belt/inquest-held-in-winnipeg-regarding-northern-house-fires-1.1688508