Two men have injuries after their tents caught on fire in Toronto’s Liberty Village neighbourhood Tuesday evening, police say.
Officers and Toronto Fire responded to reports of a blaze at a homeless encampment on Fraser Avenue, near Lamport Stadium, shortly before 5:30 p.m.
Fire crews said at least three tents caught on fire at the encampment.
Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said it was a “very serious fire” and the survivors were helped by community safety members who happened to be in the area.
“It is by sheer, I would say, good fortune that there were members of a community safety team from the St. Felix Centre who were in proximity to that area when that fire began and they were actually able to rescue two people out of that tent literally saving their lives and I would say that they did so at significant risk to themselves,” Pegg said during the city’s COVID-19 press briefing on Wednesday.
A man in his 50s was taken to hospital with serious burn wounds, police said.
Pegg said the other man sustained minor injuries.
Four explosions happened over the course of the fire due to propane tanks near the tents, Pegg said.
He added that mattresses and other combustible items were located inside the tents.
The latest encampment fire comes after crews responded to nine fires at encampments in the city over the weekend. No injuries were reported.
To date, 229 fires have been reported at encampments across the city this year, according to Pegg.
“This continues to be a very pressing issue not only with the tents but also with the polystyrene based foam pods and domes and makeshift shelters. This is a top priority for the City of Toronto,” Pegg said.
He added that the city continues to help place homeless individuals in indoor housing to avoid dangerous makeshift shelters.
“From the outset and of course every year, not only in COVID but now, we have streets to home teams and our teams from shelters, support housing that are working diligently every single day doing all that we can do to look after our most vulnerable residents and bring them indoors into what represents really the only safe and appropriate option for housing,” Pegg said.
