Fire destroys part of townhouse development under construction in Markham

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office has been called in after a fire completely destroyed part of a townhouse development under construction in Markham.

Fire crews were called to the site of the residential townhouse block near Old Kennedy Road and Aldergrove Drive, near Steeles Avenue East, around 11 p.m. on Monday.

Chris Nearing, the City of Markham’s fire chief, said firefighters could not enter the four units due to a “large volume of fire.”

“Our first-in crews reported a heavy volume of fire in one of the townhouse blocks. The fire had advanced to the stage where we were unable to make entry into any of those units,” Nearing said. “We immediately took a defensive posture and focused on the residential units to the north and to the west of the involved fire.”

Officials believe the fire may have been fed by some construction propane cylinders, based on what was reported by the first-in crews, Nearing said.

As a result, Nearing said crews managed to save the other units.

“Although we lost the original block of four townhouses, we were able to protect six units under construction on the north side and as many as 12 units on the west side.”

The original structure that caught fire was burned to the ground.

“A block has been completely destroyed, burned right down to the foundations,” said 680 NewsRadio traffic reporter Jordan Kerr, who flew over the scene in Chopper 680 on Tuesday morning.

Officials said no one was inside or around the buildings at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported.

Power outage reported Monday night

The flames also reached near a church on the east side of the development, but Nearing said crews were able to limit the damage to “some flame impingement on the roof.”

At one point, the fire led to a power outage in the area, affecting more than 900 homes and businesses. The power has since been restored.

“The wind was quite gusty last night from the southwest, so that actually spread the fire across the road … there’s a couple of hydro poles immediately adjacent to the church that caught on fire,” Nearing said.

The fire has since been extinguished, but Nearing said it is too early to determine the cause of the blaze.

“With what’s left of the structure, it may be difficult to determine what caused this fire.”

Nearing said damage to the townhomes is estimated to be more than $5 million.

Police have closed Old Kennedy Road between Steeles and Denison Street for the fire investigation.

With files from Meredith Bond, CityNews