Fundraiser started for victims of devastating fatal fire in Brampton

A fundraiser has been started to support the family of a fatal fire in Brampton.

Emergency crews responded to the fire in a semi-detached home on Banas Way in the McLaughlin Road and Remembrance Road area of the city around 2:15 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.

As of Monday morning, three adults were confirmed dead in the fire, with another two people unaccounted for. An update on the fire is planned for noon on Monday.

A resident of the home, Jugraj Singh, who was at work when the fire broke out, has started a GoFundMe.

“This devastating fire took the lives of five beloved members of our Indian Punjabi family, leaving our hearts broken and our world shattered,” Singh wrote on the fundraiser page.

His mother-in-law (in her 50s), sister-in-law, Gurjeet Kaur (29), Gurjeet Kaur’s 2-year-old child, and his wife’s cousin, Annu (27) died in the fire, he said.

Singh’s unborn baby also died after his wife, Arshveer, jumped out a window to survive the blaze. She suffered severe injuries.

His wife continues to fight for her life in the hospital, along with his five-year-old son, his brother-in-law Amritvir and Amritvir’s brother-in-law.

“The above-mentioned are all currently in the ICU, suffering from severe burns and receiving critical medical care,” Singh wrote. “As the only family member able to manage arrangements, I am trying to cope with both the emotional devastation and the overwhelming financial burden.”

The family is working to arrange for the bodies to be transported to India so that their final rites can be performed among family and relatives once all investigations are completed.

The home is completely destroyed.

“The fire destroyed everything in the house — personal belongings, clothing, passports, insurance documents, and other essential papers,” he said. “Nothing was left.”

The fundraiser had raised nearly $50,000 in one day.