‘They were best friends’: Wife of senior who died in north Edmonton apartment fire also confirmed dead

A second person was killed in Monday night’s north Edmonton apartment fire: the wife of the senior who was fatally injured by jumping from a balcony to escape the flames.

Surinderjit Kaur Bhandal, 82, and Major Singh Bhandal, 85, have been identified to CityNews as the wife and husband who lost their lives in the blaze.

BACKGROUND: 1 dead, 7 injured, 2 unaccounted for in north Edmonton apartment fire set by vehicle hitting gas line

Edmonton police say Surinderjit was one of the two people accounted for in the aftermath of the fire. The second missing person has been located safe, they say.

The Bhandals’ grandson says his grandparents were life partners who had been married more than 60 years. He wants them remembered for who they were, not how they died.

“The definition of love, if we could ever put a put a photo to it, it would be my grandparents,” Lali Toor told CityNews. “They were best friends. You could never see one without the other.”

Toor says Surinderjit and Major came to Canada more than 30 years ago. He says they had been living at the apartment for 25 of those years. He described them as “active members of the Sikh community.”

“My grandmother was a very intelligent woman, always loved to talk about politics any chance she could,” the grandson said. “My grandfather was a farmer back home in India, and his personality is what I inherited. He used to make so many relationships in business, friendships. He was such a genuine person.

“What happened here was so tragic, and that’s not what they deserved because they were really good people,” he added. “And that’s what I really hope Edmonton and our community remembers them as: good people that maintained their independence and had friendships across the city, back home in India, Vancouver, Toronto. They built relationships, very good relationships, and I really hope people remember them for that.”

Edmonton police say the fire was started after a vehicle drove into the residential-commercial building on 132 Avenue and 82 Street, striking a gas line and triggering an explosion around 9:15 p.m.

Eleven firefighting crews were on the scene after the first call came in, and a second alarm was declared five minutes later.

Six people who were inside the apartment complex and the 62-year-old driver of the vehicle were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident was characterized as a mass-casualty event given its sudden nature and the number of injuries and potential for fatalities.

Thirty-five people lived in the 16-suite complex, with several now receiving support from the Canadian Red Cross.

“When the incident happened, I happened to be just driving around nine o’clock from my in-laws, and I saw the smoke, and I had a gut feeling something bad had happened. And I just came towards the fire, and what I saw was just pure devastation,” Toor recounted.

“It tore me on the inside knowing that this wasn’t just an 85-year-old elder man that had jumped out of the the apartment. That was my grandfather, and that was my grandmother that couldn’t get out.”

Just days after the destructive blaze, Toor is now burdened with the emotional weight of such a significant and sudden loss. He’s trying to care for his family stricken with grief and honour his grandparents at the same time.

In their memory, the family will be giving back to the community his grandparents called home for decades.

“Today and until the funeral service, which has yet to be determined, we will be giving back at the Gurdwara on St. Albert Trail. We will be volunteering our time and giving back to the community. We ask that if anybody wants to join us and help us give back, to please reach out to us.”