Toronto Heritage building burns, firefighters hurt

A fire broke out around 4am in the heritage building at Yonge and Gould. Dozens of trucks and more than 100 firefighters were at the scene to contain a fire which was described as massive. During operations, several firemen were apparently injured and three requiring medical assistance were sent to hospital. Fortunately nobody else was hurt.

 

While the fire shows no visible flames, the fire department is continuing to water down the building. The century old structure is pretty much destroyed and as a heritage building, this represents a substantial loss to the neighbourhood.

 

The street in the area is expected to be closed for the rest of the day. The subway underneath the area is running and streetcars are apparently being let through on Dundas but vehicular traffic is stopped.

 

The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in and will be investigating. At some point, a decision will have to be made about demolishing the rest of the building as there is a risk of the remaining structure collapsing. Last April, the sidewalk along Yonge Street was blocked by piles of rubble when a section of wall in the building collapsed. Nobody was hurt in that incident either.

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