Video shows fire that gutted Scarborough restaurant was deliberately set
Posted May 24, 2025 10:31 am.
Last Updated May 25, 2025 5:46 pm.
A two-alarm fire that gutted a Scarborough restaurant early Saturday morning was deliberately set.
Surveillance video obtained by CityNews shows two individuals approach a business in a strip mall at 1198 Kennedy Road, near Lawrence Avenue East, just after 3:30 a.m.
One person appears to be carrying a canister while the other is holding what appears to be a metal bar. The two break the front window of the restaurant before going inside. Moments later, they reemerge, and while one of them returns to a vehicle in the parking lot, the other lights an object on fire and tosses it into the building. A large flash of fire and smoke is seen as the second person scampers back to the vehicle, which then flees the plaza.
Toronto Fire Services says they were alerted to the blaze by somebody who happened to be driving by and spotted the fire.
The roof of one of the businesses caved in during the blaze, but emergency crews were able to knock the fire down before smoke or flames migrated to the other establishments in the plaza. However, fire officials say engineers have been called in to examine the integrity of the entire complex structure due to the roof collapse.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, and police would not speculate about it being arson.
An owner of one of the other businesses within the same strip plaza says the restaurant opened for business just last week and is owned by the same people who had a restaurant in the same area destroyed by fire one day earlier. Police believe that the fire was deliberately set, but have not said if the two fires are connected at this point.
