‘Incredibly tragic’: Calgary house fire leaves father and daughter dead

A community is shocked and grieving after a tragic house fire in northeast Calgary claimed the lives of a father and his daughter.

A Calgary father and daughter were killed in a house fire in the community of Taradale on Thursday.

Emergency crews were called to a home in the 100 block of Taralake Way N.E. at 1:15 a.m.

Firefighters arrived to find the house engulfed in flames, which were coming from the first and second floor of the two-storey home.

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The Calgary Fire Department says six people were inside when the fire broke out.

Two adults from the basement were able to get out safely and were not injured.

The fire department says an adult and teen were found stranded on a small roof at the rear of the home, having escaped through a second-storey window.

Firefighters used a ladder to get them to safety.

Firefighters found a nine-year-old girl inside the home and rushed her outside to paramedics.

Another person, a man in his 50s, was found dead inside the home.

EMS took the adult, teen and nine-year-old girl to hospital.

The nine-year-old didn’t survive. 

“Sadly, she didn’t make it,” said Carol Henke, public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department, visibly saddened during a media availability.

Family tragedy

Family have identified the victims as 50-year-old Sunny Gill and nine-year-old Hargun Gill.

Sukhjit Gill, 45, and her son Rohanpreet, 17, were the pair who survived the blaze, perching on the roof until their rescue.

Navjot Kaur, sister-in-law to the Gills, says her son would often play on the swings with his cousin, and he already misses her very much.

Investigation continues

Though the Calgary Police Service’s arson unit was called in to investigate the fire, officers don’t believe the fire was suspicious or criminal in nature.

“I can’t remember the last time a child died due to a house fire,” said Henke. “Its incredibly tragic. For the family for the community, and it affects everyone, including our firefighters.”

Critical incident stress workers have been called in to assist firefighters.

The cause of the fire isn’t yet known, but it’s believed to have started on the main floor.

Fire crews did not hear fire alarms when they arrived, but Henke said it is possible they had already melted and stopped working due to the intense heat.

Henke is reminding the public that fires will double in size every 30 seconds, and smoke inhalation can be fatal in a couple of breaths.

Investigators are still in the process of speaking with surviving members of the Gill family.

The house damage is considered extensive.

Henke says the house is a total loss and leaves the family without their home.