Ontario’s Fire Marshall has confirmed the cause of last week’s fire in Hamilton that killed two adults and two children.

“As was initially reported last week, and I can now confirm, there were no working smoke alarms in the residence, and the area of origin was determined to be an upholstered sofa in the living room on the ground floor, all the occupants were on the second floor at the time of the fire and due to the location of the fire, and the configuration of the residence, the fire blocked their ability to descend through the stairwell,” said Fire Marshall Jon Pegg.

Pegg says last year was an “incredibly troubling year” with 133 fire-related deaths including young children and families in Ontario, the highest total in more than 20 years.

And data shows that one-in-three fire deaths occurred in November, December and January mostly in homes without working smoke alarms.

Pegg says many believe you have minutes to escape a fire, but in reality, it’s 60 seconds or less once the smoke alarm sounds.