A destroyed home in Alexandria, Ont. is shown after a fire on Friday Aug. 12, 2011.The Canadian Press/Samuel Blais-Gauthier
Hundreds of mourners packed a church in an eastern Ontario community today for the funeral of a woman and her three children who died in a house fire a week ago.
The fire last Friday in Alexandria claimed the lives of 22-year-old Sarah Cholette, three-year-old Chloe, 19-month-old Maxime and nine-month-old Jacob.
The father, 26-year-old Martin Desjardins, remains in a Toronto hospital suffering from severe burns.
People were overcome by emotion, holding their hands to their faces during the service at Eglise Sacre Coeur.
Investigators have determined a smoke alarm close to where the bedrooms were located on the second storey of the East Boundary Road home wasn't working.
The blaze started in the porch-area of the house and blocked the only exit from the home in the community 30 kilometres northeast of Cornwall.