A fire at an East York building that sent three people to hospital early Wednesday is being treated as a case of arson and Toronto police say they are now searching for three suspects.
The fire broke out at around 5:18 a.m. at a commercial building on Pape Avenue, near Mortimer Avenue.
Police allege the three suspects broke into the building in the early hours and set the fire in a business housed on the first floor before fleeing. Area residents told CTV Toronto that the first floor of the building housed a social club that was popular in the neighbourhood.
The fire grew into a two-alarm blaze, with heavy smoke and flames.
Toronto Fire told CP24 that three occupants of two separate second-floor units had already evacuated the building when crews first arrived.
According to police, three tenants were transported to hospital for minor smoke inhalation following the incident.
One man who lives in the area told CTV News Toronto that he awoke to flashing lights and looked out his window to see heavy smoke.
“You cannot see nothing. Big smoke, the smell, all over the place,” he said.
The fire was knocked down at around 5:30 a.m. but crews remain on scene.
In a news release Wednesday afternoon, police said all three suspects are described as male, wearing dark pants, dark hooded sweaters, and masks on their faces. They were carrying red jerry cans.
Police did not say what may have motivated the suspects to set the fire.
The Office of the Fire Marshal was notified but will not be attending the scene, Steve Darling, the acting deputy fire chief of operations, told reporters at the scene.
Darling said the fire was contained to the first floor of the building but there was some smoke migration to the second floor.
“There is significant damage on the first floor. There is significant smoke damage on the second floor,” he added.
“The fire itself was contained to the building of origin.”
Police could be seen scouring the scene for evidence for much of the day.
Investigators are asking anyone with video footage or dash camera footage of the area or incident, or anyone with information to contact police or to call Crime Stopper anonymously.
-With files from CTV Toronto Reporter Mike Walker
