Mom of two speaks out after ‘high-heat’ kitchen fire takes everything

In a matter of minutes the flames had spread so quickly the only thing Kaylah Johnston could do was grab her daughter and friend and run outside.

A “devastating” kitchen fire left Johnston and her two kids, ages one and five, moving all over Ottawa for weeks after the home she was renting went up in flames. Speaking to CityNews in an interview in mid-February, the single mother said she finally found a place where the family could stay while they rebuild their lives.

“I was just happy that we got out…Stuff can be replaced,” she said.

Firefighters were called around 8:33 p.m. on Jan. 16 to Johnston’s end-unit townhome just off Lorry Greenberg Drive in the city’s South Keys neighbourhood. She said the fateful evening had started like any other by putting her daughter to bed and having a night in with one of her friends.

The pair were cooking dinner and catching up. The meal they were cooking required hot oil to fry. She added it to the stove in a large pot, like she had done many times before, Johnston didn’t think much of it.

Her friend was in the living room right next to the kitchen. Johnston said her friend was going through a tough time so the two wanted to pray that the situation in the friend’s life would be resolved.

“We were praying, eyes are closed…I after the fact, I couldn’t believe it,” Johnston said. “I looked up and saw smoke starting to form, and I stood up and I saw the pot was on fire.”

In that moment the two froze. Johnston said at the time she had “no idea” how to put out an oil fire.

“At first, my friend is yelling at me, ‘Call 911, call 911,’ and I couldn’t look at my phone…I couldn’t see anything on my phone,” Johnston recalls. “I’m dialling, I’m crying, I’m yelling. They couldn’t even hear me. I don’t even know how that got to the address, because I was screaming on the phone the whole time.”

Above the stove were wooden cabinets that Johnston said caught in minutes before seconds went by and the whole area was ablaze. Smoke quickly filled the home and Johnston got herself dressed and woke up her daughter, who was crying.

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“There was little oxygen left, and luckily, it was probably maybe five minutes that the firefighters came,” she said.

Like many kitchens there was plastic in the cupboards, the two were not able to turn off the stove so the fire kept going while they escaped. Johnston said in the moments before crews came she told the neighbours what had happened. The three sat in Johnston’s car watching the firefighters try to tackle the blaze.

“There’s hearing about a fire happening and there’s witnessing a fire,” she said.

Once at the door, crews had to turn back because the conditions created a high-heat fire. Backing out of the home and down the stairs another team continued to douse the blaze from the outside. Eventually, officials were able to make their way back into the residence and the fire was under control by 9:25 p.m.

This home was also the location of Johnston’s hair business, Kurlessence, forcing her to not only find a new place for her work but also her family.

“That’s been really hard on top of everything else,” she said.

Her family doesn’t live in the city, and for a moment she was so worried about where they could go. But the Red Cross stepped in and put the family in a hotel, something Johnston says she was “so grateful” for.

Although photos from firefighters show minimal damage to the outside of the unit, Johnston says the place needs to be gutted. The kids lost all their clothes, her furniture and personal items all were destroyed. A GoFundMe has been set up to support Johnston and her children, aimed at getting the family back on their feet.

“Just a fair warning to keep your eye on the hot oil,” she said.