Three-alarm fire at Thorncliffe Park highrise sends one to hospital

Fire officials say a significant electrical failure was the cause of a three-alarm fire at a Thorncliffe Park apartment on Thursday.

Fire crews say the blaze broke out on 42nd floor of 95 Thorncliffe Park just after 11 a.m. on Thursday. Initially a two-alarm fire, it was escalated to three-alarms due to heavy smoke in the building.

One person was treated for smoke inhalation and later discharged from hospital.

In an update on Thursday night, Chief Matthew Pegg said as a result of the fire the eastern half of the building – approximately 11 floors – are without electricity and that has forced a number of residents to be displaced.

“Very pleased to report that the owner of the building, very quickly has been able to source out alternate accommodations, so everyone is being looked after,” said Pegg.

Chief Pegg added that the building was last inspected back in April and was in compliance with the fire code at that time.

Mayor John Tory was quick to praise the building owner for their quick response in helping residents affected by the fire.

“They’ve had contractors on the scene to begin looking at how they can affect repairs and restore electrical service, they immediately organized – without our help, I might add – hotel rooms for those who were put out,” said Tory. “We didn’t even have to activate the Office of Emergency Management, which would often times take charge of finding housing for dozens or more people – we didn’t have to do that because the landlord did it.”

Chief Pegg said they expect to remain on the scene “for the foreseeable future” as fire investigators work with various other authorities to restore power and allow residents to return to the building. He added that the Office of the Fire Marshal has not been called in at this point.