TDSB provides update to students after massive fire at York Memorial

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has sent a letter to parents and students updating them on the state of York Memorial Collegiate Institute after a massive fire broke out at the nearly-century old school earlier this week.

In the letter obtained by CityNews, the TDSB says the building remains under the active control of Toronto Fire Services (TFS) and Toronto Police.

“Heavy construction equipment excavated parts of the building to assist TFS in its efforts to suppress the fire and ensure no hotspots remained,” the board wrote.

“This has resulted in a significant amount of debris on the property and it is not safe for anyone else to be inside or near the building unless authorized by TFS or police. Toronto District School Board (TDSB) security services also has a 24-hour presence at the school.”

The board will also be helping students assess what personal belongings were destroyed in the blaze, and retrieve any items that can be salvaged.

“We recognize that many of our students and staff had a number of important personal items that were left behind in the building. TDSB staff are in the process of devising a retrieval strategy, including contracting a crew to go into the building and systematically collect and inventory salvageable items.”

At the height of the six-alarm fire, at least 150 fire officials were on scene in the area of Eglinton Avenue and Trethewey Drive.

The fire caused much of the roof to collapse, along with some of the exterior brick facade along the upper portion of the building.

Crews were first called to the school for a two-alarm fire around 2:15 p.m. Monday and found flames visible from the second floor. The fire broke out in the auditorium but was then extinguished.

But just before 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, firefighters were called back to the scene after flames and heavy smoke began once again billowing out of the auditorium.