More than $114,000 has been donated to support a Brampton family struck by unimaginable tragedy after five of their loved ones were killed in a house fire last month. The victims will be laid to rest this Friday, and surviving relatives say the outpouring of community support has given them strength during their darkest days.
“Thank you so much to everyone who generously donated to support us,” Jugraj Singh wrote in an update on the family’s GoFundMe page on Tuesday. “Your kindness, compassion, and willingness to help truly mean the world.”
Singh had been away for work when the fire tore through the family’s rental home on Banas Way around 2:15 a.m. on Nov. 20. Approximately a dozen people were inside. Several, including Singh’s pregnant wife, were forced to jump from a second-storey window to escape the flames. Five others did not survive, including Singh’s newborn baby, his mother-in-law, his sister-in-law, and her two-year-old child.
The victims have been identified as Harinder Kaur, Gurjit Grewal, Bantvir Deol, Anudeep Kaur, and the newborn. Funeral services will take place Friday at the Brampton Crematorium and Visitation Centre.
Singh launched the fundraiser to provide financial support “during the most heartbreaking and unimaginable time of our lives.” Donations have steadily climbed, surpassing $114,000 as of Wednesday. He said the family is “deeply grateful for every contribution, every share, and every message of encouragement,” adding that the community’s support “has made a meaningful difference.”
The cause of the deadly fire remains under investigation. In the days after the tragedy, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said the property owner was an “absentee landlord” and claimed city officials had repeatedly been denied access to inspect a suspected basement unit.
The homeowner, through lawyer Sukhi Baidwan, has disputed those assertions. Baidwan said the property “was lawfully tenanted,” adding that no changes or construction had been made since it was purchased from the builder. The lease, signed in March 2023, permitted only four adults and one child to occupy the home, and tenants had already served notice they would be moving out at the end of November.
The incident has renewed attention on Brampton’s landlord licensing program, which will be expanded city-wide next year amid growing concerns about housing safety following multiple fatal fires.