Pickering woman facing eviction — and a $25K repair bill — over a fire she says she didn't cause

A single mother of four could soon lose her home — and $25,000 — over a devastating electrical fire in her public housing unit.

Amanda Sherwood's three-bedroom townhouse, located in Pickering east of Toronto, caught fire in June of 2020, leaving her and her daughters, aged six to 20, temporarily homeless. 

Her landlord, Durham Region Non-profit Housing Corporation (DRNHC), is now asking the province's Landlord and Tenant Board to evict her and order her to pay a portion of the $80,000 repair bill. The corporation has been trying to evict Sherwood for about a year, saying she caused the fire by overloading an electrical outlet — an accusation that Pickering Fire Services is refusing to confirm.

Sherwood maintains faulty wiring at the complex is the culprit.

"If you're running the microwave and, say, you turned on a kettle at the same time, you're going to blow a fuse — there's no ifs, ands or buts," Sherwood said.

"It's going to blow not only the kitchen out, it's going to blow out your whole main floor and some parts of the basement."

The Landlord and Tenant Board is expected to hear submissions from the paralegal representing Sherwood, and from the housing agency, Friday morning.

Sherwood's problems began early one morning when a fire broke out in her garage, destroying the contents and damaging much of the rest of her unit. 

A fridge was connected to a wall outlet in the garage near where the fire broke out, along with a power bar connected to a freezer and a remote controlled car battery charger.

DRNHC, in its eviction application, asserts the fire was "due to overloading an electrical socket." But Pickering Fire Services doesn't appear to be backing that claim.

"The fire investigation could not confirm the cause to be overloading," Deputy Chief Nigel Robinson said in an email to CBC Toronto.

"There were a few possible causes considered during the investigation, however the exact cause was not confirmed."

The landlord tenant board hearing has been delayed several times since the DRNHC launched its eviction application about a  year ago.

A Pickering Fire investigator on the scene the night of the fire later wrote that "it appears the fridge, freezer and electronics were all powered by the same receptacle, which would create a higher than recommended current draw."