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About 100 firefighters and 27 fire trucks helped battle a three-alarm blaze at a building in Etobicoke Wednesday morning that was previously leased to the Toronto Humber Yacht Club.
Crews responded to calls about an entire building on fire near Humber Valley Road and Glenaden Avenue E. around 4:45 a.m., said Toronto’s Deputy Fire Chief Paul Fitzgerald at the scene.
While the fire has now been extinguished, he said there is significant damage to the building and that the roof is completely gone.
“Quite a lot of damage there but no other structures were involved,” said Fitzgerald.
Smoke rose through the charred remains of the building’s roof, while the brick walls still remained standing Thursday.
Piles of burnt wood and materials lay in front of the structure as fire crews walked around through pools of water from the aftermath of their efforts.
A large plume of smoke was visible to residents in the area as fire crews utilized a water relay system to extinguish the blaze early Wednesday morning. (Submitted by Anna Jozwiak)
Fitzgerald said the incident was upgraded to a 3-alarm fire given the size of the fire and the amount of resources used to extinguish it.
Crews had to utilize relay pumping by moving water from one firetruck to another towards the blaze as the building is far from hydrants.
“We used eight trucks in the water relay itself,” said Fitzgerald. “We passed from truck to truck, pump to pump, and managed to get two hose lines very quickly on the fire.”
There have been no reported injuries thus far, he said.
The Office of the Fire Marshall has been informed and Toronto Fire will now work with police to move into the investigation phase to determine what caused the fire.
Fitzgerald said crews will remain at the scene to monitor for hotspots.
WATCH | What led to the initial city shutdown of the 70-year-old club:
Why Toronto is shutting down this 70-year-old yacht club
After nearly 70 years, the city is shutting down a controversial Etobicoke yacht club. Critics say it harmed the environment, but some club members refuse to give up on it. CBC’s Naama Weingarten has more on their fight and what the historic site could become.
Last month, Toronto city council voted to end a month-to-month lease with the 70-year-old club after years of complaints about environmental concerns.
Council voted to develop a plan to explore other uses for the land that it occupies, balancing “recreational opportunities with ecological protection, flood risk management, and the long-term resilience of the Humber River.”