Update March 27, 2018 – Police have identified the victim of the fire as 75-year-old Margaret Kellestine of Bancroft. The Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office has determined that the cause of the fire was deemed accidental due to careless smoking.
An elderly woman has died in an early-morning fire at the R.J. Brooks Retirement Centre in Bancroft.
At around 2 a.m. on Thursday (March 15), the Bancroft Fire Department responded to a fire in one of the units in the facility, located at 1 Alice Street in Bancroft.
At 4 a.m., Bancroft OPP were called to the facility when a 74-year-old woman was found dead after the fire was extinguished.
The cause of the fire is unknown, and the woman’s name is not being released pending notification of next of kin.
Bancroft OPP, Bancroft Fire Department, the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office, and the Office of the Chief Coroner are assisting with the investigation.
All residents have been evacuated from the R.J. Brooks Centre and have been moved to the Bancroft Bible Chapel, next door to the centre.
Police are asking people who wish to check on residents to do so at the Bancroft Bible Chapel.
