This was a Brampton Diwali night light show that could be seen for miles around.
uncertain
that → see → miles
While residents were ready to enjoy this year’s Festival of Lights in Brampton, this Sunday light and smoke show has instead sparked anger, blame and debate.
asserted
show → enjoy → anger
While the notion that this major fire was a result of careless people shooting off consumer fireworks to celebrate the Hindu holiday might make for an intriguing storyline, like many stories, there are complications and nuance.
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people → shoot → stories
Sure, some were firing off fireworks nearby.
asserted
some → fire → fireworks
However, this may have all come down to some kids and, as it turns out, equally-as-dangerous sparklers — something families often use for birthday parties or celebration days like Canada Day, Victoria Day or Diwali.
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families → come → Day
Here is what Brampton Fire put out to the media Monday morning.
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put → put → media
“On Sunday, Nov. 8, at approximately 9:20 p.m., Brampton Fire and Emergency Services responded to reports of a residential structure fire at 81 Cedarbrook Rd.
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Services → respond → Rd
Upon arrival, crews encountered heavy fire conditions originating in the garage, which extended into the attached residence.
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which → encounter → residence
Crews evacuated a neighbouring residence as a precaution.”
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Crews → evacuate → precaution
It added that “crews located discarded fireworks materials in the garage, which may have been a contributing factor to the fire.
uncertain
which → add → fire
The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed, and the investigation remains ongoing.”
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investigation → confirm → fire
No one was hurt and the inferno was mostly contained to one unit.
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inferno → hurt → unit
But it was that “discarded fireworks materials in the garage” comment from Brampton Fire that prompted media members — mainstream, bloggers and Indian-Canadian media — to head out to the scene.
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that → discard → scene
Not so fast, it turns out.
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it → turn → ?
Brampton Fire looked at it closer as they were trying to figure out just what caused this blaze.
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what → look → blaze
But what Brampton Fire originally called “discarded fireworks” now appears to have been sparklers.
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called → call → what
Fire investigators noted a large amount of metal, used sparklers inside and outside of the garage.
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investigators → note → garage
Witnesses described seeing “unsupervised” children running around with the lit handheld sparkers inside and outside the garage, which on Monday was in a state of burned-out ruin.
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which → describe → ruin
“Lots of children were holding the sparklers,” neighbour Ewa Buzny said.
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Buzny → hold → sparklers
The fire was not the only thing burning there.
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fire → burn → ?
Buzny said there were heated tempers and plenty of racially charged comments flying around among other homeowners and it came close to physical blows being thrown.
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it → say → blows
Eventually, witnesses said, people were separated and things calmed down, and the focus went back to the fire itself.
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focus → say → fire
Neighbour Mark Andrew said what he saw was one of the children “jumping around” and panicking while dropping a sparkler, then, suddenly, the whole house went up in flames.
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house → say → flames
The place was fully engulfed and you could see it from a distance away.
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you → engulf → distance
“The father tried to put it out with a garden house, but it was too late,” said Andrew, adding that he told neighbours to move their cars.
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he → try → cars
Brampton Fire has not confirmed that a child throwing a sparker was the cause.
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child → confirm → sparker
Turns out, there is no Brampton bylaw preventing sparkler use
Meanwhile, neighbour Gurpardeep Singh said he called 911 as his friend got his family out of the home.
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friend → turn → home
It was an apocalyptic-looking scene.
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It → look → ?
After the fire was doused, you could see the damage caused to the bikes and other items in the garage — all burned beyond recognition.
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all → douse → recognition
Brampton Fire saved the day here because this one house fire could easily have turned into 10 had they did not got to this one fast.
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they → save → one
The question now is what caused this, and how can another fire like this be prevented in the future?
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fire → cause → future
At the end of the day, whether it was a sparkler or firework cannister used in the Diwali celebration, the end result was the same.
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result → use → celebration
Brampton Fire Deputy Chief Andrew vonHolt said his team is investigating.
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team → say → ?
While there were many spent fireworks cartridges found on the street, it turns out there was nothing like that found in the garage.
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it → be → garage
What was found was dozens of metal, wire rods for sparklers and their packaging.
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found → find → sparklers
Not only is it key in that it may turned out to have been what sparked the fire, but there is another reason.
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what → turn → fire
“Sparklers don’t fall under the no-fireworks bylaw,” vonHolt said.
This means it is possible there was no broken bylaws that may have played a role in causing this fire.
Oops.
Now, in this townhouse complex, there is a sign displayed in the middle playground area that makes it very clear there is “no fireworks” permitted there.
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it → fall → area
But it does not say or show anything about potentially just-as-lethal sparklers.
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it → say → sparklers
Mayor Patrick Brown and his council just may have to fix that for next year.
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Brown → have → year
The Aporia
