6-Alarm Fire Destroys Historic Building

A six-alarm fire caused the tower and north wall of an historic building at Yonge and Gould Streets to collapse Monday morning and sections of the surrounding Yonge-Dundas area are closed down.

The structure, built in 1888, sits at the edge of the Ryerson campus and was the site of the Salad King wall collapse in April.

About 125 firefighters and 32 trucks were called out to douse the flames that broke out around 4am at 335 Yonge St. Just under a half an hour later the structure’s tower collapsed. The blaze apparently started in the upper floors and is being investigated by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office.

Yonge Street will be closed to traffic in area for the duration of the investigation. The building will have to be dismantled so investigators can sift through the charred remnants to determine what caused the blaze. Gas and hydro had reportedly been shut off at the site before Monday’s fire.

At around 7:30am Toronto Fire Capt. Mike Strapko said crews had the upper hand on the blaze, but the cold weather and the fact that the building was already damaged and slated for renovations made putting out the flames a particularly tough task.

Toronto Fire Services had asked the public to steer clear of the area as the front wall of the building was bowing and there were fears of a collapse.

“We do have a safety officer on standby there. The area is cordoned off too so it is a possibility that at least the front wall may come down,” Strapko said. “Only time will tell.”

The wall came down just after 10am.

Five firefighters were injured in the response. Two fell from a roof, two suffered smoke inhalation and one suffered a hand injury.

“It was a very intense time,” Fire Chief Bill Stewart said of the firefighters who fell from the platform.

“It’s a very horrific situation for firefighters on scene to locate them in the smoke and extricate them from the building.”

Four were taken to hospital and have since been released. All injuries were considered minor. No other injuries have been reported and the building was apparently empty when the flames erupted.

Only TTC vehicles are being allowed through the area and Ryerson closed down for the day. The neighbouring HMV suffered heavy water damage.

The owner of the Empress Hotel building filed an application to have the structure demolished following the wall collapse on April 16, 2010. The city voted in July to give the building a heritage designation, meaning it would be harder to have it torn down. A meeting had been scheduled for next week by local councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam to lay out plans as to how the building could be renovated.

With files from the Canadian Press.