Toronto firefighters say an elderly man found without vital signs in a home that caught fire overnight Tuesday in Scarborough’s Birch Cliff neighbourhood is now breathing on his own in hospital.
Platoon Chief Bill Boyd said emergency crews were called to a home at 2 Parkland Road, southeast of Gerrard Street East and Victoria Park Avenue at about 12 a.m. Tuesday.
Upon arrival, Boyd said flames could be seen in the home’s front window. Firefighters knocked down the blaze quickly and started searching the home.
Boyd said the elderly man was found in the home’s dining room, lying underneath a dining room table.
He was brought out of the home and revived, and then transported to Sunnybrook Hospital where he is breathing without assistance.
Boyd said he did not see any working smoke alarms in the home when he inspected it.
Investigators from the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal are at the scene of the blaze.
“From my primary look in the house, I see no smoke alarms, no (carbon monoxide) detectors,” OFM fire investigator Debbie Harris said.
Toronto Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop said the man, who is believed to be the owner of the home, will be charged for not having any working smoke or carbon monoxide alarms.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. An estimate of the damage caused is not yet known.
