5 people, including 3 children, dead in Davidson, Sask., house fire

A house fire in Davidson, Sask., took the lives of two seniors and three children on Sunday.

At about 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, Craik RCMP received a report of a house fire on Ottawa Street in Davidson, about 110 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

RCMP said its members attended the scene, where the Davidson Fire Department was already responding, and “discovered the residence in flames,” according to a Monday news release.

“Several people were inside the home at the time of the fire,” the release said.

An 80-year-old man and 81-year-old woman were removed from the house and transported to Davidson Hospital, where police said they were pronounced deceased.

“Once the fire was extinguished, the remains of three children were found inside the home,” the release said.

The Davidson Fire Department declined to comment at the time.

On Monday, the house was surrounded by police tape. The roof was partially collapsed and the windows were boarded up.

The fire was found to be “non-suspicious in nature,” RCMP said in a release late Monday afternoon, adding that the police investigation is now complete.

Whole community devastated: Mayor

Elaine Ebenal, the mayor of Davidson, said their small community of 1,100 people is distraught by the loss.

“The whole community is really devastated by the loss and our hearts go out to the family,” she said.

“The RCMP are still investigating and so we’re not going to comment any further than that at this point.”

Autopsies for all five individuals are expected to take place in Saskatoon this week.

RCMP said it held the scene overnight while it investigated the fire with the assistance of the Davidson Fire Department, Saskatoon Coroners Service and Saskatchewan Public Safety. 

A spokesperson from STARS confirmed that both STAR-9 from Regina and STAR-11 from Saskatoon were dispatched to the Davidson area Sunday afternoon in response to the fire incident, but STARS did not transport any patients.

The Saskatoon Firefighters Union said it is extremely saddened to learn about the devastating house fire and offers its deepest condolences to the people affected and the entire community of Davidson.