Man charged in Cedarbrae Collegiate blaze that caused extensive damage.
Toronto police forensic officers work at Cedarbrae Collegiate Thursday morning after a fire at the school the previous evening appeared to be the result of arson. A man has been taken into custody in the incident.
Staff Photo/ANDREW PALAMARCHUK
A man faces six charges in connection with a million-dollar blaze at a Scarborough high school Wednesday night.
Fire crews were called to Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute at 550 Markham Rd., south of Lawrence Avenue, at 10:47 p.m.
“When we got there, it was burning. We put a second alarm in right away,” District Chief Stephan Powell said. “It took about an hour to get it under control.”
There were 13 fire trucks at the scene. No one was injured. A man was arrested by police while walking in the area of the school.
“It is alleged that he made his way inside the school where he used some kind of gasoline to set a fire,” Const. Isabelle Cotton said. “He is not a student at the school.”
Cedarbrae Collegiate was cordoned off with yellow police tape Thursday morning as the fire marshal’s office and officers from forensic identification services investigated. Toronto District School Board spokesperson Kelly Baker didn’t know when the school would reopen.
“Right now exams that were scheduled have been postponed,” she said. “Most of the students in the school had already written their exams, so it’s only affecting a very small population of students.”
The exams that would have been written on Thursday and Friday will now be taken on Tuesday, June 29, at David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute, 2740 Lawrence Ave. E.
Cedarbrae Collegiate first opened in 1961 and has about 1,350 students.
Baker described the damage as extensive.
“We’d be doing an investigation to assess the damages and determine any work that would be needed to be done at the school,” she said.
A 20-year-old man has been charged with breaking and entering, arson, mischief over $5,000, possessing burglar tools, possessing incendiary material and common nuisance.