WHITBY, Ont. – A historic church east of Toronto was gutted by a major blaze early Monday, destroying a collection of donated gifts meant for needy families 10 days before Christmas.
Fire crews were called to the 133-year-old All Saints’ Anglican Church in downtown Whitby shortly before 5 a.m. by a snow removal crew who spotted flames shooting out of the old church.
Durham regional police say they are now investigating the fire as an arson.
"There’s evidence there indicating that the fire was suspicious in nature," said Sgt. Nancy van Rooy. "It appeared that someone may have broken into the structure. There were broken windows and suspicious items outside on the ground."
Officers don’t expect to open Dundas St., a major east-west thoroughfare in the city, until late Monday.
The church houses the city’s only food bank and had reportedly 100 Christmas hampers ready to be delivered this holiday season.
Nine fire trucks and nearly 30 firefighters from Whitby, Oshawa and Ajax had the fire under control by 6:30 a.m., said Shawna Coulter, a spokeswoman with Whitby Fire and Emergency Services.
"The roof is partially collapsed at this time. All the rafters are exposed," she said at the scene.
One firefighter received minor injuries but did not require hospitalization.
No one was in the church at the time of the three-alarm fire.
Coulter said crews were still dousing hot spots inside the church. Heavy equipment will be used to "peel back" the church’s roof for safety reasons.
"The stability of the building is questionable right now," she said. "It will be quite some time before investigators can go inside the building."
Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office was expected to arrive later Monday.
Whitby is 50 kilometres east of Toronto.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.