The Toronto fire chief says a new fire in the walls between two Thorncliffe Park condo complexes was ignited during remedial work for an original fire that burned for several weeks late last year.
Chief Jim Jessop said in an update Tuesday morning that contractors were completing work that was ordered following the 2025 fire. That work required the use of a saw on concrete, which evidently sparked and lit remaining fibrous insulation on fire.
Firefighters were called to the scene around 11:30 a.m. Monday.
The smouldering insulation was the same material that caught fire in November 2025. But Jessop assured that the current situation was not a reignition of the original fire.
“I want to be very clear, the fire back in November was obviously completely extinguished,” he stressed. “It has been a number of months so there is absolutely nothing to suggest that at all.”
All remedial work is now on hold until a new construction management plan is produced that could help prevent a similar situation from recurring, said Toronto chief building official Kamal Gogna.
“The engineer’s report must outline how the remedial work will be conducted safely and until that report is received, reviewed by the city, the work cannot continue,” he said, adding there is no timeline for when that report may be received.
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“Our inspection staff have been on site throughout the duration of the remedial work,” Gogna said. “Until the situation is resolved and the safety of residents and the workers along with first responders remains our top priority and work will not continue until we’re satisfied.”
The initial fire broke out at the end of November 2025 with more than 400 residents evacuated in from two highrise buildings, located at 11 Thorncliffe Park Dr. and 21 Overlea Blvd.
Following an investigation into that fire, Ontario Fire Code charges were laid against the PFC Construction Inc., the Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation 956 and its parent company Del Property Management Inc. for unsafe practices and failure to promptly report the fire.
There will be no more fire code charges laid, Jessop said Tuesday.
While Jessop said he cannot provide a timeline for when the fire will be put out, he said “we are in a much better place than we were at the end of 2025.”
He said it is difficult to understand how much of the insulation is remaining in the wall, but access holes from the fight against the first fire are making the attack plan more efficient.
For residents, there is a mix of emotions. The good news, Jessop said, is the fire is contained and residents can shelter in place. He noted Monday that there were arrangements made for those who chose to evacuate.
But for those who are still displaced as a result of the November fire, the lack of a timeline means there is grave uncertainty about when they can return home.
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