The landlords of a Willowdale rooming house where a 47-year-old woman died in a fire last November pleaded guilty in provincial offences court to Ontario Fire Code violations at three Toronto properties.

The deadly blaze, which occurred at 177 Elmhurst Ave., was ruled an accident by the Ontario Fire Marshall. An investigation into the death led to charges against landlords Thevathurai and Balatharshini Akilan, and AKS Rental Management Inc. for “Fire Code violations related to smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, fire separations, the absence of a fire alarm system, and insufficient exiting, fire extinguishers, fire rated doors and exit signage.”

Thevathurai Akilan received a fine of $22,500 plus a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge and court costs for the offences at 177 Elmhurst Ave. AKS Rental Management was fined $12,500 for additional infractions found at 45 Irvington Ave., and the landlords also pleaded guilty to offences at 57 Farmcrest Dr.

The maximum penalty a corporation can be assigned for each Fire Code violation is $100,000, while individuals can face jail time as well as fines for some serious violations.

In an interview with the Star Thursday, Deputy fire Chief Jim Jessop called unlicensed and illegal rooming houses “a great source of frustration” for Toronto Fire Services.

“They are absolutely the source of our most frequent and serious injury and fatal fire within the city both historically and recently,” Jessop said. “We know anecdotally that there are thousands of these buildings within the city of Toronto . . . Without a complaint or referral we just don’t know where they all are.

“If we know where they were, we would certainly try to initiate a proactive inspection program,” Jessop said.

Local rules prohibit rooming houses in North York, East York and Scarborough, whereas they are permitted in York, and regulated and licensed in the old city of Toronto and Etobicoke.

Willowdale Councillor John Filion told the Star in May that illegal rooming houses were a problem in his ward and that he suspected a majority of basement apartments in the area violated the fire code.

One of the 177 Elmhurst Ave. landlords, who identified himself as the owner of AKS Rental Management and only gave the name “Akilan,” called the tenant’s death an “unfortunate incident” and said the Fire Code infractions at his property did not cause the death.

Akilan said he was “blind sighted” when he discovered his property violated the Fire Code, and blamed the infractions on the age of the property, which he said was 70-years-old. He said the city should play a more active role in licensing and inspecting rental properties to make sure they meet standards.

“Ninety-nine per cent of the places you’ll find at least one mistake,” he said. “When I ran into problems only I got impacted, none of them (at the city) got impacted. I’m a middle-class man, I’m trying to survive. What would I do?”

Jessop said the Ontario Fire Code is clear that the owner is responsible for compliance.

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“Landlords should be responsible enough to understand that they have legal obligations for the safety and security of these tenants,” Jessop said.

With files from David Rider