An investigator with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office says a fire that destroyed two popular Yorkville restaurants has not been deemed suspicious but added that they have “not ruled anything out.”
The fire broke out shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Christmas Day and tore through an Avenue Road heritage building that houses Sotto Sotto and Spuntini Ristorante & Bar, two restaurants frequented by many celebrities and politicians.
Toronto Fire Services previously said that the fire was being treated as ‘suspicious’ due to the extent of the damage and the fact that the building had not been occupied for several days however the OFM says they have not made that determination.
“(Those comments) were made before the Office of the Fire Marshal had been engaged here at the scene,” OFM investigator Peter Hamilton said at the scene on Saturday afternoon.
“We have not ruled anything out and all things are still on the table. We have not conducted any scene investigation as of yet.”
Hamilton said the OFM has not yet been able to conduct its investigation due to “structural concerns” with the building.
“The purpose of all of our meetings up to this point is to gather the necessary equipment to make the scene safe,” he said.
The on-site investigation will be conducted over the next several days, Hamilton said.
“From the outside of the building, it looks like the building is actually intact however... due to the construction techniques used at that period of time, the entire building has slid down inside,” he said.
“It will be a matter of systematically removing the material and paying attention to competent ignition sources.”
Damage from the fire has been estimated at more than $1 million.
