two dead, 4 hurt in trio of toronto apartment fires
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a toronto fire services truck.
ernest doroszuk / files
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toronto sun
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a trio of apartment building fires in toronto on tuesday claimed the lives of two people and sent four others — including two children — to hospital with injuries.
in the first blaze, fire crews were called to an apartment building downtown at ontario st. and st. james ave. around 3:10 a.m.
two children and two adults were taken to hospital with moderate injuries.
the cause of the fire is being investigated, however, toronto fire division commander john carson noted there was an e-bike in the apartment where the blaze started.
he said fire crews “achieved a quick knockdown on this fire facing heavy flames.”
“there were e-bikes present in the unit,” carson told reporters at the scene. “(the fire) went from inside to outside. we are still determining cause and cannot attribute it to the (lithium-ion) batteries at this time.
fatal fire in scarborough
the second fire — this one fatal — occurred around 7:45 a.m. at a building at neilson rd. and mclevin ave. in scarborough.
“we got here in under three minutes,” toronto fire deputy chief paul fitzgerald told reporters at the scene.
“all of the living area was ablaze. (firefighters from station) 213 knocked the fire down very quickly, conducted a primary and secondary search while the firefighters from (station) 212 were working on the patient performing cpr.”
the deceased person was found outside in front of the building and it’s thought they might have been the unit’s occupant trying to escape the blaze.
their age and gender were not immediately released, and the cause of the fire was not immediately known.
fitzgerald said they are working with toronto police to find witnesses to determine if the victim was the occupant “self-rescuing.”
third fire in downtown toronto
less than three hours later, another person died in a fire in an apartment building at wellesley st. e. and sherbourne st. downtown.
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toronto police and toronto fire responded to the blaze around 10:30 a.m. and the fire was put out.
one person was located dead at the scene and the investigation is ongoing. no other information was immediately available.
“our crews reported smoke on the 19th floor in the hallways and our supporting crews also spent a deal of time ventilating the hallways, the stairwells, and the upper floors where smoke had migrated from the door being open,” toronto fire division commander paul o’brien told cp24.
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