Cause Of Fatal Chesley Fire Not Considered Suspicious
By Steve Sabourin
June 14, 2018 4:07am
What sparked a fatal fire in a home in Chesley earlier this week is still unknown, however, whatever caused it is not suspicious.
Manny Garcia is the lead investigator from the Office of the Fire Marshal and is working on a lead that the fire may have started outside the home.
What is known is that the extensive damage to the site included the loss of two vehicles. There were also propane tanks, cylinders and oxyacetylene tanks on the property at the time of the fire, but they are not being considered as the starting point.
The office of the coroner is also involved in the investigation as three bodies were pulled from the fire and will be working to identify the remains.
Police have not released any names, but a GoFundMe page started by a family friend has raised just over $30,000 as of Thursday morning.
The mother remains in a London hospital and is being treated for injuries she suffered during the June 11 fire, while an infant is with other family members.
=======================
Kramer/Mitchell Family
The Mitchell family home was involved in a house
fire on Sunday June 10th. Mom and baby got out. But father went back in
to get the 2 daughters and all 3 were taken by the fire. Please help
support this family in need in their darkest hour.
To all that have donated, thank you for the overwhelming support and prayers. This is going to be a long road to recovery for the family as well as the community.
To all that have donated, thank you for the overwhelming support and prayers. This is going to be a long road to recovery for the family as well as the community.
=======================
CHESLEY, Ontario, Canada - Chesley is in mourning after the house-fire deaths of a father and two daughters early Monday morning, but the community is pulling together to support the surviving young mother in a London burn unit and her baby.
The fire marshals office determined the fire started on the exterior of the home in a carport area. The cause isn't deemed suspicious. Autopsies weren't completed Wednesday.
Concerned residents and friends expressed shock and sadness in interviews with The Sun Times.
It's a small town of 1,800 and some spoke guardedly to protect the privacy of John Kramer Jr. and girls, Shailyn, 9, and Britnee, 5, who they said died in the fire. Officials have not publicly named the victims, but they have been identified through assistance efforts.
Lindsy Mitchell escaped the fire but was badly burned, said Kim Caragianakos, a friend of Lindsy's sister, Krista, who is caring for Lindsy's baby, Dillon, who is 15 months old.
There are several efforts to raise money and collect household items and toiletries for Lindsy and the baby, including a Gofundme page which already has raised $27,000, already smashing the $10,000 goal, and an account at the Northern Credit Union. Arran-Elderslie Mayor Paul Eagleson said this kind of loss is something you see on TV but never expect in your own small community. He saw the look on people's faces in Chesley Monday morning as he arrived for a council meeting.
"The whole district is in shock and mourning," he said, noting all flags are at half-mast at municipal buildings as a sign of respect. "It just takes the heart right out of you. Our thoughts are with the missus now, and the young son."
He thanked first-responders, including the volunteer firefighters who answered so traumatic a call, and encouraged anyone to seek help if what they went through starts to trouble them.
It's unknown what role if any smoke alarms played in this fatal fire but Eagleson said it should serve as a reminder anyway to check your fire alarms.
Caragianakos runs the Williamsford Pie Company and is donating $5 per pie to Lindsy Mitchell.
She posted on her store's Facebook site a story about the kind of man John Kramer Jr. was. Last year he'd visit three of four times a week to buy pies and treats for his grandmother, who was sick. The family also attended her Spring Fling barbecue.
She said they are "very quiet, calm people."
She's been overwhelmed with pie orders since starting her fundraising effort. Wednesday she had 95 pies to bake. There's also a collection box in her store, particularly for baby items, which she'll post to Facebook about later.
A number of people have stepped forward to help Lindsy and her son, to welcome them back home to the warm embrace of a caring community.
"They're just a lovely family and we want to help them as much as we can," said Jackie Humphrey, who's son was in the same kindergarten class as five-year-old Britnee, at Chesley District Community School.
"She was a just a beautiful little girl who was kind and happy and just loved the people around her," she said. "They're a very private, quiet, simple family." She knows the family's friends and they're not talking about this right now, she said.
Humphrey knows the family just from living in Chesley her whole life, although she didn't know them well.
"It's just a small community and we all kind of rally around each other when things happen," she said.
"In terrible moments like this it brings us together and we all hold each other a little tighter and try to remember that life is precious."
Humphrey is doing a decorative sign painting night on June 28 at 7 p.m. at the Klages Mill in Chesley. She's done fundraisers like this before. She'll donate $20 per sign. Call 226-668-8055 for details.
Jen Legge was Shailyn's Brownie leader last year. Her son attends the same Grade 4 class as Shailyn did. She said Shailyn was a "kind-hearted" kid, who loved art and she remembered how she enjoyed helping serving at a pancake supper.
Legge, a paramedic who would have been working the night of the fire had she not booked the day off, said she didn't know the family well. Her husband, a volunteer firefighter, was paged to the fire.
Like Humphrey, Suzanne Seddon just wanted to do something to support Lindsy Mitchell and her baby, though she doesn't know her or her husband.
She knows that John Kramer Jr. was "friends with just about anybody, he would give you whatever he had to give. Very well known. Very respected. Just really a stand-up guy."
He worked for Multiple Enterprises Inc., in Chesley.
Seddon and her daughter, Jessica, helped put donation jars for money at the Legion and at the local RONA B&L Farm Services. Jars are also at Hatten Home Hardware. Donations of clothes for Lindsy and the baby, toys, diapers, wipes, bedding and other needs for the baby are being collected at Jessica's home.
To donate, items can be dropped off at 161 3rd Ave. SW in Chesley. Call 519-477-8194 to reach Seddon or 226-230-3397 to reach Jessica.
She understands Lindsy Mitchell will have probably a four-week stay in London. When she returns home, she wants her to feel supported. She's an "amazing mom" and "family was very important to her," Seddon said.
"This is going to be a long road to recovery for her and when she comes home, Chesley is going to be her home.
"She is going to heal medically in the hospital. But she has a tragedy to come home to. And I think the community needs to do everything they can do to at least lessen some of the burden."
That's what someone did for her a couple of years ago when she took in and cared for her daughter-in-law, who later died of brain cancer. So she sees this as her opportunity to do the same for someone else.
"I feel this is how it should be. There is so much hate and there are so many terrible things going on that there has to be good."
An account has been set up at Northern Credit Union in Chesley to receive donations to help all the victims of the fire, both the Mitchell family and neighbours whose homes were incidentally damaged. Branches in Durham, Chesley and Elmwood will accept donations to account number 100002556389.
The Chesley branch is a drop-off location for donations for the Mitchell family.