No injuries have been reported, but a number of people remain out of their homes after a vacant house went up in flames in downtown Toronto early Wednesday.
The two-alarm fire broke out at a home on Grange Avenue, near Beverly Street, at around 5:30 a.m., Toronto Police said.
Toronto Fire crews arrived to find two homes in flames.
“We arrived and found that the occupants had exited the building,” Platoon Chief Armando Schiarizza told CP24 at the scene. “We encountered heavy flame and then lots of smoke and we ensured the safety of all the individuals that were on scene.
“One of the addresses was an abandoned building and we attempted to do a search of both addresses. Because of the heat and flames, it was very difficult for our crews to conduct the search.”
Firefighters had to back off and attack the fire defensively, he said.
Images from the scene showed heavy smoke and flames leaping from the building.
Firefighters could be seen tackling the flames from above, with rivers of water flowing in the street below.
By around 7:30 a.m., flames were no longer visible from the outside, but firefighters continued to douse the home.
Toronto Fire said the second floor of 26 Grange Ave. collapsed, but no injuries were reported.
“We have the fire under control at this point and the occupants are safe, but there is structural damage,” Schiarizza said. “We are waiting for the fire investigator to arrive and we have to determine the safety of the building before we can make any type of entry.”
Schiarizza said the fire started on the unoccupied side of the building, though the cause is not yet clear.
He said firefighters have heard reports from neighbours about previous arson activity in the neighbourhood, but that will be up to investigators to probe.
“They have reported that to us and we are going to relay that information to our fire investigators so that they can follow up on those observations, I would put it at this point,” he said.
NEIGHBOURS WOKEN BY BANGING
Residents from neighbouring homes were evacuated by first responders because of the fire, some of them going out in the frigid morning in robes and slippers.
“They started ringing and banging on the door and there were police outside who told us we had to leave,” one man who identified himself as Charles told CP24. “Unbelievable. I’m trying to be optimistic. I’m two houses over so I’m hoping that the worst that can happen is smoke damage and we’ll see what happens when it gets light out. What a nightmare.”
Some people opened their homes to neighbours from the evacuated houses. Police said shelter buses were being brought in to keep people warm.
The temperature sat at around -6 C Wednesday morning, though it was feeling more like -10 with the wind chill.
A total of four homes were physically impacted as a result of the fire, including one where the basement was flooded from water used to fight the blaze and another which was not damaged but is located next to a home with structural concerns. It is not yet clear how long it will be before impacted residents are allowed to return home.
Neighbours told CP24 that the home where the fire started has been vacant for some time, with no one seen coming or going for around a year.
Grange Avenue is currently blocked off to accommodate emergency vehicles, police said.
