An 18-year-old man is dead and two others were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after they were brought out of a Toronto Community Housing apartment building by emergency crews responding to a fire.
Toronto Fire Services crews were called to the apartment on Flemington Road, near Allen Road and Lawrence Avenue West, after 9:30 p.m. Monday. After firefighters arrived, they found a working fire inside one of the units.
“They were very quickly removed to the outside and patient care was initiated.”
Toronto Paramedics said a woman, who is believed to be in her 40s, and two male teenagers were rushed to area hospitals in life-threatening condition.
Shortly before midnight, Toronto police said one of the patients was pronounced dead at a hospital. An Office of the Fire Marshall spokesperson told Global News Tuesday that the victim was an 18-year-old man.
Pegg said investigators from Toronto Fire Services and the Office of the Fire Marshall have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire.
“We’ll be looking to see if the detection systems were working correctly and why these people weren’t able to escape,” OFM investigator Willam Hay told reporters on Tuesday.
Toronto Fire officials said approximately 10 trucks and 40 firefighters responded to the scene.
Pegg noted all high-rise buildings and Toronto Community Housing buildings receive at least one fire inspection every year.
WATCH: Toronto fire chief provides update on apartment building fire where 3 found without vital signs.
Mayor John Tory offered his condolences to the family affected by the fire during a news conference Tuesday morning and said he was also briefed by the fire chief on the incident.
“He indicated to me that the building had last been inspected on Nov. 13,” Tory said. “Obviously they are now going to be conducting a very thorough investigation.”
Tory also said the current lack of funds for TCH building repairs would not have played a role in the fire as they don’t include fire safety measures.
“I think that the fire safety measures are being rigorously enforced to the point where we are doing an inspection of every Toronto Community Housing building once a year, and for that matter every highrise in Toronto once a year, and that is a standard that is not met or exceeded anywhere else in Canada,” he said.
With files from David Shum and Shallima Maharaj
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