Fire officials say the cause of an explosion and fire at auto body shop in Scarborough early Thursday morning is currently under investigation.
Shortly before 4 a.m., multiple explosions could be heard at the shop, located near Midland and Lawrence avenues.
The blasts triggered a fire and crews worked for hours to bring the blaze under control.
Platoon Chief James Green told CP24 the explosions occurred in paint booth and the impact of the blasts blew out some of the windows and doors of the building.
Parts of the building have been “compromised,” Green said, and in certain areas, the roof has come away from the bricks.
The fire was extinguished at around 6 a.m. but crews still not have been inside the building.
“We are assuming that the time of day there is nobody in there,” Green said on Thursday morning.
“We will eventually be able to do a primary search of the place but at this point we are assuming that there is no occupants, no injuries."
He noted that the sprinkler system helped firefighters get the blaze under control and fire crews augmented the sprinklers with pumper trucks.
The cause of the explosions has not yet been determined.
No one was inside the building at the time, but neighbouring businesses have been affected.
Owners are not yet sure if their businesses have sustained damage as the scene is still being held by investigators.
“We’re going to be closed for a while,” Perry Ghana said. “The cops told us it’s okay but we don’t know what damage is inside, we don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know what to tell our customers because we have so many deliveries to do.”
A Toronto Fire Services investigator has been called in along with an investigator with the Office of the Fire Marshal.
