{"id":537785,"date":"2026-03-15T10:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T10:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/537785\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T10:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T10:20:22","slug":"toronto-native-shares-healing-journey-5-years-after-losing-son-mom-and-2-friends-in-house-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/537785\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto native shares healing journey 5 years after losing son, mom, and 2 friends in house fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

After five long and dark years, former east Toronto resident Arija Jansons is finally starting to find some joy and light in her life.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 29, 2021, at around 4:30 a.m., a massive electrical fire broke out at Jansons\u2019 family home on Gainsborough Rd., near Gerrard Street East and Coxwell Avenue.<\/p>\n

Her seven-year-old son Kai Dombrovskis along with her mother, Jana Jansons, and two friends, Amanda Freimanis<\/a> and Matthew Zdybal<\/a>, died in the three-alarm blaze. <\/p>\n

\"\"95 Gainsborough fire 4 victims Arija Jansons’ son Kai Dombrovskis, left, along with her mother Jana Jansons, and two friends Amanda Freimanis and Matthew Zydbal, died in a Jan. 29, 2021 fire in Toronto’s east end. (Supplied) <\/p>\n

\u201cMy last memory of the fire is looking at Kai. I then woke up in the ICU,\u201d said Jansons, who recently spoke about her experience publicly for the first time with CP24.<\/p>\n

Jansons said she somehow made it out of her burning house, escaping from a second-floor window, but was badly injured and spent several days in hospital<\/a> dealing with the effects of smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy eyes were sealed shut. I couldn\u2019t see and I had a breathing tube. I lost my voice for almost a month and I didn\u2019t know if I\u2019d ever get it back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Office of the Fire Marshal has since determined there were no working smoke alarms<\/a> in the house.<\/p>\n

\"\"house fire Firefighters work to put out a house fire in Toronto, Friday, Jan.29, 2021. Fire ripped through an east-end Toronto home early Friday killing four people and injuring several others. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Frank Gunn \u2018My world went black\u2019<\/p>\n

The psychological injuries Jansons sustained from that traumatic experience, however, and the deep losses she has had to endure because of it, are wounds that will never fully heal or go away.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy world went black,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe pain of Kai passing away is just so excruciating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Arija Jansons, late son Kai East Toronto native Arija Jansons with her late son Kai, who died in a Jan. 29, 2021 house fire. (Supplied) <\/p>\n

In the days and months following the tragedy, Jansons said she existed in a state of deep shock. Feelings of aimlessness followed as she tried to process what had happened and find her footing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was wandering around lost all the time. I was driving around aimlessly. I was just so lost,\u201d shared Jansons, who in the days after the fire stayed at a friend\u2019s house before getting her own place in the city, but with little support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very isolating time. … I should have been in safe hands. It was just too much for a human to bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Arija Jansons, late son Kai East Toronto native Arija Jansons with her late son Kai, who died in a Jan. 29, 2021 house fire. (GoFundMe photo) <\/p>\n

In late 2021, just a few months before the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, Jansons fell into deep depression. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never known depression like that. It was very dark. I just gave up all hope,\u201d she said, adding while life seemingly went on for everyone else, the life she knew was over.<\/p>\n

There were times, she shared, that she didn\u2019t know if she\u2019d make it through.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just got harder every year. … It was a terrifying time,\u201d said Jansons.<\/p>\n

\u201cFriends and family are not equipped to help someone going through that level of trauma. Not everyone has the ability to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jansons said that notable gap in support has led her to come up with a plan to open a space for survivors of trauma called Kaison Healing Centre. This initiative is currently in the very early stages, she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Arija jansons, late son Kai East Toronto native Arija Jansons with her late son Kai, who died in a Jan. 29, 2021 house fire. (GoFundMe photo) Memoir in the works<\/p>\n

As part of her ongoing healing journey, Jansons has also started penning a memoir in the hopes that sharing what she\u2019s gone through will help others who have experienced trauma. She has launched a crowdfunding page to help fund this endeavour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just started pouring out of me. I started typing and I couldn\u2019t stop,\u201d Jansons said of her memoir, which she began writing about a year ago.<\/p>\n

Recently, with close friend Jennifer Jones, Jansons has also launched a children\u2019s book-writing project aimed at helping kids deal with grief. The first book in the series is called Kai\u2019s Kites<\/a> and was released last fall.<\/p>\n

\"\"Arija Jansons, late son Kai East Toronto native Arija Jansons with her late son Kai, who died in a Jan. 29, 2021 house fire. (GoFundMe photo) A new chapter in B.C.<\/p>\n

Jansons\u2019 circumstances changed in a big way in the spring of 2022 when she met her partner and by the fall of that year, they\u2019d packed up their belongings and relocated to British Columbia for a new start.<\/p>\n

\u201cToronto was just too loaded with memories. It\u2019ll always be home but B.C. is beautiful,\u201d said Jansons, who in October 2024 gave birth to a happy, healthy baby girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cRheya has given me hope and brought me back to life again. … She definitely gives me a reason to still want to be here. My daughter has helped me find my laugh again and she brings light to my dark days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Arija Jansons, daughter Rheya Arija Jansons, who lost her son, mom, and two friends in january 2021 fire in Toronto’s east end, poses for a photo with her baby daughter Rheya. (Supplied) <\/p>\n

Jansons said she is still hit at times by heavy waves of grief, especially on quiet nights when her baby is asleep, but said time has helped lessen her pain. The time around the anniversary of the tragedy, which happened just days after Kai\u2019s birthday, is always extra difficult, she shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could be depressed and miserable all my life but Kai wouldn\u2019t want that,\u201d said Jansons.<\/p>\n

Grateful for support following fire<\/p>\n

Jansons said she is grateful to everyone, especially those from Toronto\u2019s east end, who offered their support in the days and months after the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never got to say thank you to all of the people who showed up for me, in all different ways,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be here with out all that support. I\u2019m so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jansons\u2019 burned down home was torn down shortly after the deadly fire. All that remains there now is an empty lot as the new owner, who purchased the property about two years ago, has yet to rebuild. <\/p>\n

\"\"95 Gainsborough Rd. empty lot 95 Gainsborough Rd. in Toronto is now an empty lot after a house that burned down in a deadly Jan. 29, 2021 fire was torn down. (Joanna Lavoie\/CP24) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After five long and dark years, former east Toronto resident Arija Jansons is finally starting to find some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-537785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}