Friends and family of teen who died in Orlans fire shocked by her death

Friends and family of the teen whodiedin a house fire inOrlanssay they are shocked and saddened by her death.

Courtney Scott's body was discovered in her foster home Friday afternoon after Ottawa fire crews were called tothe 1100 block of Old Montreal Road. Firefighters say all the residents except the 16-year-old escaped the incident unharmed.

• 1 person dead in Orlans house fire
• Teen who died in Orlans foster home fire from outside Ottawa

"I didn't want to believe it," said Courtney's mother Sheila Scott. "She was really a wonderful girl. She had a lot of joy. Especially when [she was]around family. Her real family."

Originally from Fort Albany First Nation, Scott said she was at her home last Saturday nearTimmins,Ont.,when she was told her daughter had died. The mother of six had lost custody of her children in 2003 and hadn't seen her 16-year-old ina year and a half.

"They should've contacted me as soon as possible. Like ASAP. It happened Friday at 2:30 p.m," she said.

Scott wants to know the circumstances surroundingherdaughter's death and why it took so long for her to be notified about it.

Thefoster home where Courtney Scott lived is operated by Stepping Stones, a private residential providerlicensedby the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.On Tuesday, they put out a statement saying they werecooperating fully with investigators.

'She was very sweet'

Heidi Quayle, a fetal alcohol specialist in Cobourg, Ont.,worked with Scott for about a yearwhen she lived in a foster home there.

"She was very sweet. She was nothardenedat all," saidQuayle. "Just a very loving person."

"She did have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder," she said. "I was asked to work with her because of my understanding of fetal alcohol spectrum and how that affects the brain."

Quaylesaid Scott'sbrain injurymade her quite vulnerable at times. "[It] did cause her to get into trouble but it was never in an oppositional or defiant way. It was more because she would misjudge or fall in with the wrong crowd."

One of the things Quayleworked on with Scott was building upher confidence because she often forgot things and doubted herself as a result.

"She had real struggles there and she was victimized at times by people who took advantage of that," saidQuayle.

The Office of the Fire Marshal said Wednesday the fire has been deemed not suspicious and said the regional coroner's office is taking the lead in the investigation.