A fatal fire in a Toronto Community Housing (TCH) building that left four seniors dead was deliberately set.

Detectives at 42 Division broke the news to the victims’ adult children early Thursday morning.

“I think I’m numb,” Narry Moussavi told CityNews on Thursday. Her mother Azeema Safraj died in the fire.

“To think if it was deliberately set, what kind of a person would do that to seniors? That building is filled with seniors.”

Moussavi said she still sees her mother the way she looked in the morgue, when Moussavi had to identify her body.

“It’s awful. It’s probably something that will stay with me forever. I will never be able to forget that moment … I also thought she’d be sick, I’d take her to the hospital, she’d pass away.”

Azeema Safraj, 86, died in a fire at a Toronto Community Housing building on Neilson Road on Feb. 5, 2016. Image courtesy the Safraj family

The fire broke out in an apartment building on Neilson Road on Feb. 5, 2016 Since then, the Ontario Fire Marshal, Toronto fire, and Toronto police have been investigating.

CityNews has learned that the chairs in an alcove in a fifth-floor were deliberately ignited with an open flame. The fire caused thick, toxic smoke to quickly fill the hallway. TCH is already facing charges for just having those chairs in the alcove, because it is against the fire code to have combustible materials along an exit route. They’re also accused of failing to train staff properly in fire safety protocols.

Mayor John Tory said his thoughts are with the families of those who lost loved ones during the fire.

“Today, the families of the victims have learned the sad news that the Office of the Fire Marshal has concluded this fatal fire was intentional,” he said in a statement. “I am confident Toronto police will now conduct an exhaustive criminal investigation into the incident.”

“All I can hope is TCH is being more proactive,” especially when it comes to sprinklers, security cameras, and staff training, Moussavi said.

“Seniors are people we don’t pay attention to and they become the victims,” she added.

In a statement, TCH said they would not be commenting on the charges as the matter is before the courts.

Ninety-year-old Charles Roberts and his 72-year-old wife Hyacinth died in the Feb. 5, 2016 blaze. They had been married for 51 years. Their bodies were found in a fifth-floor hallway. Charles Roberts was not very mobile. His family believes Hyacinth would not leave his side and stayed with him.

The third victim was 86-year-old Azeema Safraj. Her daughter had previously sent an email to Tom Koufis, Senior Community Housing Superintendent at TCH, addressing serious complaints about fire safety at the building on Neilson Road.

The fourth victim died in hospital nearly a month later, on March 2. The identity of the fourth victim was never released.

All of the victims were found in the hallway. They were overcome by the smoke, which was so thick the firefighters couldn’t even see them when they went in.

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Fazeela Khan was caring for Azeema Safraj, a family friend, when the fire broke out.

“I almost died in that fire,” Khan said.

“We were in the apartment and there was a knock on the door and the fire alarm was going off and the superintendent was there and he said, ‘get out, get out.’ So I took my aunt and we went out and we went in the hallway and then I don’t remember anything else.”

The TCH building caters to people 59 years old and older. But because it is not classified as a seniors home, it does not have to pass the same, strict provincial fire regulations as provincial seniors or retirement homes, nor does it require sprinklers.

According to TCH records, the building was last inspected for fire safety in 2013. Under the Fire Code, buildings that are classified as seniors’ homes must undergo annual fire inspections.

The email from Safraj’s daughter warned about the dangers of a fire. She said there was a smoker on the floor. She also warned of loose wallpaper, which TCH had fixed before the fatal fire.

Four people died after a fire on Feb. 5, 2016, at a Toronto Community Housing building on Neilson Road. CITYNEWS

Full statement from TCH:

We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn that the fire at 1315 Neilson Road was deliberately set. We regret the tragic loss of life and injuries that occurred as a result of the fire, and today the thoughts of everyone at Toronto Community Housing are with the families and loved ones of those who perished, those who were injured and the residents of the building.

Toronto Community Housing takes the safety of residents very seriously. We have cooperated fully with the investigation into the fire’s cause and we will continue to cooperate fully with the criminal investigation being led by Toronto Police Service.

As who set the fire is the subject of a police investigation and other matters pertaining to the fire are before the courts, we are unable to make any further comment on these matters at this time.