1 dead, 1 seriously injured in residential fire in downtown Toronto

One person is dead and another is seriously injured after a five-alarm fire in a residential property in downtown Toronto on Monday.

Firefighters were called to 160 Bathurst Street, south of Richmond Street West, at about 5:30 a.m. for reports of a fire in a basement.

Toronto paramedics took two people to hospital. One person initially suffered life-threatening injuries, but that person has died, Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said. The other person suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Pegg said next of kin has been notified. Toronto Fire has not released the age and sex of the victims.

The Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office has been notified and it will investigate the origin, cause and circumstances of the fire, Pegg said.

What was initially reported to be a three-alarm fire quickly escalated to a five-alarm.

Fire called ‘difficult’

“It’s a difficult fire for sure,” Pegg told reporters at the scene. “We’re dealing with a very, very high level of both fire and smoke and we’re having a really difficult time controlling the spread of the fire across the adjoining buildings. That’s the logic for why we upgraded to a fifth.”

“There’s no reported injuries on site to any of our personnel. That’s really good news, especially considering how cold it is and the amount of ice they are having to deal with.”

The fire was brought under control nearly four hours after it started, but Pegg said firefighters will remain at the scene for some time to monitor hot spots.

“Operations are still ongoing,” he said.

Pegg said crews have set up two tower ladders in an attempt to get some access to the roof.

He said this would help “to ultimately control the forward progress of the fire.”

“It took us a little time to get this tower ladder up in the air because we had to have Hydro and TTC de-energize all the wires overhead.”

“We’re confident that we’ve controlled the progress both north and south and we’re now focussing primarily on the section of the building in the middle where it appears to have originated,” he said

Nearby buildings affected by smoke

At one point, when the volume of smoke was at its highest, it drifted into nearby buildings.

“When the really heavy smoke was emanating, we had a number of alarms in the area and a number of reports from citizens that were concerned. It’s been a very busy morning in the area,” Pegg said.

“When we get those reports of smoke in a building, even if it’s next door and we’re reasonably confident that it’s from this, we dispatch crews to check and make sure that we’re not dealing with subsequent fires.”

Pegg urged people to stay away from the area.

“If you don’t need to be in this area, please don’t. If you live in the area, please keep your doors and windows closed. We have no indication of hazardous materials. however, there’s a large volume of smoke,” he said.

Toronto Fire Capt. Adrian Ratushniak said a TTC bus was brought to the area to shelter residents who live in the adjacent buildings.

Bathurst Street has been closed between Richmond and Queen streets as crews work to put out the fire.

CBC