Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
National

Winters Hotel fire: B.C. inquest told of chained door, 'no way out' from deadly blaze

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Jan, 2024 05:08 PM
  • Winters Hotel fire: B.C. inquest told of chained door, 'no way out' from deadly blaze

A coroner's inquest has been told that a Vancouver rooming house where a fire killed two people in 2022 had a chained door, as relatives testified about the devastating impact of the blaze.

The inquest into the deaths of Mary Ann Garlow and Dennis Guay began Monday with family members describing their loss in the fire that gutted the Winters Hotel in Vancouver. 

Garlow's niece, Misty Fredericks, told the inquest jury that her aunt's son John lived in the same building and jumped out of his third-storey room to escape the fire, shattering both legs.

"Mary was his caregiver, always looking out for his well-being, ensuring he was safe and fed. The love for her son is what saved John's life. It was Mary who made the ultimate motherly sacrifice by making sure her son jumped out the window before the last moments of her life," Fredericks said.

She said it would be too difficult for John to testify but he wanted the jury to know about his love for his mom, and that there were "chains on the door, the sprinklers didn't work and there was no way out."

She said people who knew Garlow said she loved the community that she found in the city's Downtown Eastside and that some people referred to her as their "street mom."

A statement from Guay's family read to the jury described his love of chess and backgammon and said his death left a "massive void."

The bodies of Garlow and Guay were found during demolition on the shell of the building more than a week after the fire in April 2022. Experts told the inquest that DNA from family members was used to confirm the identity of the victims.

The property manager originally said it was believed all residents had escaped.

Fredericks testified she was told her aunt's friends were concerned that she hadn't been seen, and missing person posters were created.

"(A friend) was at the site protesting and trying to stop demolition of the structural remains of the hotel. She had put some type of banner on the protective fencing and was yelling towards the machine operator to, 'Stop, she's in there,'" she said.

"Anybody who knew Mary and John would tell you that if Mary was in fact still alive, she absolutely would have made her way to her son's bedside at the hospital." 

The jury heard that Guay had severe hearing loss since childhood and wore hearing aids and read lips to communicate.

A psychiatrist testified that Guay had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was stable and in good spirits at his last appointment days before the fire.

His family's statement said Guay loved music and spent years working in various local government positions in northern B.C.

"The grieving process for Dennis's family has been extremely hard, and his death has left a massive void," the family's lawyer, Rebecca Coad, read from the statement.

"A piece of the puzzle is missing and cannot be fixed. Life is taken day by day with the hope that one day they will come to terms with it."

Nearly 30 witnesses are scheduled to testify at the inquest, which is not to find fault but can lead to recommendations for preventing similar deaths in the future.

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. approves health research centre construction at new St. Paul's Hospital

B.C. approves health research centre construction at new St. Paul's Hospital
British Columbia's provincial government is going ahead with the construction of a $638-million "state-of-the-art" research centre at the new St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. Premier David Eby said at a news conference after touring the construction site at the new hospital on Thursday that the province has approved the business plan and funding for the new research facility.

B.C. approves health research centre construction at new St. Paul's Hospital

Guilty plea from Vancouver hit and run suspect

Guilty plea from Vancouver hit and run suspect
A man charged in a fatal hit and run in Vancouver last year has pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death. Eoghan Byrne was killed on July 19th, 2022 in the Kitsilano neighbourhood in a collision that was captured on surveillance video.  

Guilty plea from Vancouver hit and run suspect

Hundreds of foreign-trained doctors boosting B.C. family medicine: Dix

Hundreds of foreign-trained doctors boosting B.C. family medicine: Dix
British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says almost all of the 666 international medical graduates registered in the province this year are now working as doctors, with more than half in family medicine. Dix's comments come amid ongoing health-care woes including hospital overcrowding and many residents being left without a family doctor.

Hundreds of foreign-trained doctors boosting B.C. family medicine: Dix

Woman, 72, uses shovel to chase naked intruder from her Vancouver home, police say

Woman, 72, uses shovel to chase naked intruder from her Vancouver home, police say
Police say a 72-year-old woman used a shovel to chase a combative and naked man from her Vancouver home on Tuesday night. Vancouver police say in a statement the man entered the home by smashing a window with a pointed metal rod.

Woman, 72, uses shovel to chase naked intruder from her Vancouver home, police say

73-year-old man faces multiple charges after vehicle crashes through dollar store

73-year-old man faces multiple charges after vehicle crashes through dollar store
Mounties in Creston says a 73-year-old man faces multiple charges, including impaired driving, after a vehicle crashed through a dollar store on Monday morning. Police say damage to the store was significant after the vehicle drove through the front window of the Your Dollar Store with More. 

73-year-old man faces multiple charges after vehicle crashes through dollar store

Over 50 arrests in Kelowna retail theft

Over 50 arrests in Kelowna retail theft
Kelowna Mounties say an operation targeting shoplifters over a seven-day period this month resulted in more than 50 arrests. Police say the operation was in response to concerns from Kelowna's retail sector about theft and violence at stores.

Over 50 arrests in Kelowna retail theft