Woman critically injured in North York apartment fire

A woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after she was pulled from a three-alarm apartment fire in North York.

Toronto Fire Services were called to the high-rise building on York Mills Road east of the Don Valley Parkway just before 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

TFS said crews arrived to heavy smoke and fire from the fifth-floor unit, where one occupant was without vital signs. Life-saving measures were performed by first responders.

TFS Deputy Chief Larry Cocco says a woman in her 50s was taken to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition.

“Crews made entry and rescued an occupant of the fifth-floor unit,” Deputy Chief Cocco said. “Toronto Paramedic Services transported the occupant to a local hospital.”

Toronto police said shelter buses were ordered for displaced residents.

Tammy Scott, a woman who lives on the fifth floor of the apartment building, tells CityNews she heard screams from outside her door.

“It was really scary. The whole hallway was filled with black smoke,” Scott said. “She’s a nice lady, I mean, we don’t have any problems in this building.”

Neighbours say the woman has lived in the North York high-rise for more than a decade with her children, who were not home at the time.

It’s unclear what caused the fire.