No one was injured after a three-alarm fire destroyed a house and damaged another in the far west of Toronto on Monday evening.
The fire broke out around 7:30 p.m. in the Emerson Avenue and Dupont Street area.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and found black smoke coming out of a house, which was eventually engulfed in flames.
“There was a lot of intense black smoke. The houses could not be seen when we arrived,” section chief Tim Algar told CP24 at the scene.
Algar said the two affected houses are only four inches apart and it is not yet clear where the fire started.
“All we know is that it started in the back,” he said.
A woman living in the house next door said she was preparing dinner when someone knocked on her door and told her that she and her children had to leave the house.
“My girls did their homework in the room. Someone started knocking on my door and ringing my bell like crazy. I yelled at one of my girls to open the door. She opened the door and all I heard was someone saying “good luck, there’s a fire”.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, said the house that had caught fire had been renovated.
He said he grabbed his children and dogs and ran away from home.
“We’ve been here watching as our house burns down,” he said.
He added that he had been told that “the whole roof of the back half of my house is gone.”
Several people had been inside making renovations to the top level of the most damaged home. Algar said they also had no idea the house was on fire until someone warned them.
“They had no idea until someone knocked on his door and shouted that there was a fire in the back and then they looked and saw that he was totally involved in the back,” Algar said.
Algar said the two houses will likely have to be evacuated for the time being due to the damage.
Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said Monday that conditions for firefighters were “difficult,” with a special weather statement in effect due to high temperatures in the city.
“An extremely challenging day for our @ Toronto_Fire teams,” Pegg said in a tweet. “Facing 3 significant fires simultaneously: a third alarm fire in Emerson and two second alarm fires – Halsey Ave and Gerrard St East – is even harder for our crews to work safely in high outside temperatures.”
Toronto is currently experiencing its first heat event of the season, with highs expected to hover around 30 finsC through Wednesday.
Algar said conditions made it difficult to keep firefighters in good shape as they fought the flames.