A 29-year-old man died of smoke inhalation from a cooking fire in a Brampton basement apartment Saturday night (March 30), according to the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office (OFM).

The fire started in the kitchen in the basement unit of the house, and the cause is “unattended cooking,” according to OFM fire investigations supervisor Rick Derstroff.

Firefighters pulled the victim from the home on Stalbridge Avenue, in the area of Ray Lawson Boulevard and Mavis Road. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The fire broke out just before 9 p.m.

Derstroff said the smoke detectors in the home were older than 10 years, and it is unclear if they sounded. Tests are being done to determine if they were functioning, Derstroff said.

He said if the alarms were originals to the home, it is likely many other homes in the area have older detectors, too, despite fire officials stressing that all smoke detectors should be replaced with new alarms every 10 years.

“They may still work,” he said of the older detectors, but they should still be replaced. “They have a life expectancy.”

Brampton Fire Chief Bill Boyes and several firefighters were knocking on doors in the neighbourhood Tuesday (April 2) reminding residents to have working smoke alarms on every level of their home and outside all sleeping areas, and to practice a home fire escape plan.

“Fires move fast and you may have less than 60 seconds to safely escape,” Boyes said. “Early warning is crucial to survival and only working smoke alarms save lives.”

Derstroff said kitchen fires cause the most accidental fire deaths every year, and they are preventable.