Arson suspects sought after fire destroys under construction luxury home in North York

Toronto police say a fire Thursday morning that destroyed a luxury home under construction in North York was an arson.

The fire broke out at a home on Dempsey Crescent, in the area of Bayview and York Mills, just after 6 a.m.

The three-storey home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on scene.

Paramedics say no one was inside the home at the time and neighbouring homes were safely evacuated. No injuries have been reported.

CityNews 680 traffic reporter Jordan Kerr was over the scene in a chopper and says the home appears to be a total write-off.

“I see the outer walls of the building are mostly up, but everything on the inside is scorched down to what looks like the basement,” he says. “There’s still a ton of smoke through here so I can’t quite see how far down the fire goes.”

A home at the same address of the home on fire is listed online for more than $13 million. A ‘for sale’ sign could be seen on the front lawn as crews responded to the fire.

In an update Thursday night, police said it was now an arson investigation, releasing photos of four suspects.

Investigators say the suspects arrived at the home in a dark colored Mercedes sedan and parked in the driveway, exiting the car and walking to the back of the home carrying red jerry cans

“The four people then set fire to the back of the house and ran back to the car,” a release states. “The car then left the area in an unknown direction.”