ABOVE: Global’s Mark Carcasole reports on what steps crews are taking to battle the massive factory fire – and how long it could be until the blaze is under control.
TORONTO – Firefighters are battling a 6-alarm fire at a west-end Toronto factory specializing in mattresses and various types of foam Thursday.
And a Toronto Fire Services captain says they’re likely to be there for the next few days.
The fire started around 9 a.m. at 198 Fairbank Avenue in the Eglinton Avenue and Dufferin Street area.
Officials had originally called a 2-alarm fire but it was raised four levels.
“Because it’s a petroleum based product, it has fuel,” Toronto Fire Services Deputy Mike McCoy told reporters. “Inside the structure itself, the fire is actually moving around inside.”
There are currently 30 firetrucks and 120 firefighters on scene.
Officials say the fire started in an office at the front of the factory and no injuries were reported.
The factory creates multi-purpose foam products. Paula, a delivery driver for the company who did not want to give her last name, said it is a “polyester fill.”
“Pretty much what you find if you open up your couch that looks like a cotton, that’s what we produce,” she said.
She said it gets delivered to manufacturers who can put it various products like clothes, stuffed animals or couches.
Police have closed down Dufferin Avenue between Castlefield Avenue and Wingold Avenue.
All firefighters have been evacuated from the building because they are concerned about structural integrity.
“Now it’s just too dangerous for us to get in,” said McCoy. “We have had some collapse already. I would anticipate we will likely have more.”
WATCH: Deputy fire chief updates efforts to contain massive fire in west-end Toronto
They are fighting the blaze defensively with aerials and around the building. Toronto Fire Services Captain David Eckerman said firefighters have a saying: “risk a lot to save a lot.”
“There’s not a lot to save left in the fire,” he said, saying that’s one of the reasons why firefighters are no longer in the building.
He also said the building is not safe. Eckerman explained the trussed roofs tend to collapse quickly.
“Trussed roofs, although this point has long since passed, are known to fail early in the first ten minutes of a fire. Be it a metal trussed roof, the metal expands, may push out the walls which will sag and bring down the air conditioning unit that’s on the roof, if its wood, it might just burn through,” he said Thursday afternoon.
TTC buses are on scene sheltering workers.
A building nearby has also been evacuated because of the smoke.
But Toronto Fire Services advised parents to pick up kids from school as normal.
The Fire Marshal’s Office has been called in to investigate the cause of the fire, as well as the Ministry of Environment.
Although officials say there is no imminent health risk, people living in homes nearby are being advised to stay inside and shut their windows.
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