Owner of rooming house where 3-alarm blaze broke out charged for second time

The owner of a Toronto rooming house where a three-alarm fire broke out earlier this year — forcing fire crews to call a mayday — has been charged with fire code violations.

The charges follow an inspection into whether the building complied with Ontario's fire code by the Office of the Fire Marshal, Emergency Management and Toronto Fire Services. The violations include an absence of smoke alarms, a lack of an approved fire safety plan, multiple fire doors not properly closing and breaches in fire separations.

In a release Friday, Toronto Fire Services identified Celia Gilda Gomez as the owner of the building. Gomez was previously convicted of violations in the same building in 2015, when she was fined $14,000.

• Firefighter rushed to hospital after heat from blaze forces crew outside

Flames erupted at the two-storey home on Dufferin Street near Alma Avenue, north of Queen Street West, shortly after 9 a.m. on Oct. 11th.

One firefighter was seriously injured in the blaze after becoming trapped and overcome by heat. He was rushed to hospital along with two of the buildings residents, who suffered smoke inhalation.

The captain of the crew conducting an interior search of the building declared a mayday when it was determined that the heat was too intense to continue. Matthew Pegg, interim fire chief of Toronto Fire Services at the time, applauded that decision, calling the captain "very experienced."

Police said occupants of the house climbed onto the ledge before crews arrived and were throwing pets out of a window.