HALIFAX - Fire officials in Halifax say investigators have been unable to identify the cause of a fire that killed seven children in their family home in February.
In the first significant update since the tragic blaze, Chief Ken Stuebing of Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency said today investigators were able to determine only that the fire started in the main-floor living room near a couch.
Stuebing says nothing leads investigators to believe the fire was suspicious, and they have ruled out smoking materials, kitchen activities and electrical faults as possible causes.
Ebraheim Barho and his wife Kawthar survived the Feb. 19 fire that destroyed their new rental home in the Halifax suburb of Spryfield, although Ebraheim Barho suffered severe burns.
The couple's seven children, who ranged in age from three months to mid-teens, perished inside the home.
The family, originally from the war-torn Syrian city of Raqqa, arrived in Canada as refugees in September 2017.