Fines levied after fatal fire in special needs group home

A judge has handed out fines in connection with the death of a woman with Down syndrome in an April house fire in Edmonton.

Provincial court Judge Michael Allen ruled Thursday that although Marilyn Lane, 43,didn't try to climb out a basement window, the owners of the house and the group home operators who rented it should have known the window was too small to meet regulations.

He ordered Independent Counselling Enterprises Inc. and its quality assurance manager to pay $3,450. He also fined the couple who rented out the house just over $1,800.

All had already pleaded guilty to failing to comply with safetystandards under the Public Health Act.

Fire investigators determined the fire was started by an open flame in the basement of the group home in the Gold Bar area, at 50th Street and 106th Avenue.

Theblazeblocked access to the stairs. Lane had taken part in monthly fire drills at the group home and knew how to escape, but caregivers said on the day of the fire she didn't attempt to crawl through the window.

Lyndon Nemutabwe, one of the first to spot smoke in the area while jogging with a friend, told CBC News in April that he saw people scrambling out of the building shouting for help.

"Me and my friend tried to get in through the front door, but it was just too smoky and dark and we couldn't even get in."

Nemutabwe said he smashed in a basement window where a woman was trapped.

"I spoke to her until the emergency guys came. She was saying she had a headache and just wanted to get out of there."

The fire caused $280,000 in damages.