Two top Toronto lawyers and their two children were killed in a tragic Christmas Eve fire at their vacation home in Ontario.
Police have yet to confirm the identities of the victims, but family and friends took to social media to mourn Geoff Taber and his wife Jacquie Gardner, along with their two sons, Scott and Andrew, according to CTV News.
The family’s two large dogs were also at the cottage near Peterborough, Ontario, when the fire broke out early Saturday on Stoney Lake.
The couple’s children are believed to be between 10 and 12 years old.
Police were called to the fire just before 4am Saturday to the cottage at 614 Hamilton Dr N near McCracken’s Landing in Douro-Dummer Township, Const Jason Folz of the Peterborough County OPP told the National Post.
Folz said the four bodies were pulled from the cottage, along with the bodies of their pets.
He added that the entire home was destroyed and all of the upper levels collapsed into the basement.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, the firm where Taber was a partner described him as a ‘vibrant and wonderful person’ in a statement released Monday.
‘There are no words adequate enough to express the depth of sorrow we feel about the tragic death of Geoff and his beloved wife Jacquie and sons Scott and Andrew,’ managing partner Dale Ponder wrote in the statement.
He added that Gardner had also worked at Osler before moving on to Altamira Investment Services.
‘Geoff and Jacquie were first and foremost loving parents to their two remarkable sons,’ he said in the statement. ‘We will miss them terribly.’
Taber and his wife purchased the cottage for $1-million.
It was made entirely of timber, a local business owner, who knew the family for 10 years, told the Post.
He said the home was ‘in very good condition’ and the family did some ‘cosmetic’ renovations before moving in last year.
The Office of the Fire Marshal is continuing its investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
Source: Daily Mail UK
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