Suspicious fire on Springhurst Avenue.
Toronto firefighters finish work at the scene of a three-alarm blaze early Tuesday morning at 43 Springhurst Ave. There were reports of a firefighter and a civilian sustaining minor injuries; damage to the structure was substantial. (Aug. 31, 2010)
Photo/MANNY RODRIGUES
A three-alarm fire that destroyed a Parkdale home has been labeled suspicious and is now the subject of an investigation by Office of the Fire Marshal.
"It appears to be suspicious in nature," said Captain Adrian Ratushniak with the Toronto Fire Services.
The fire broke out at 43 Springhurst Ave, a semi-detached home in south Parkdale. Ratushniak said a number of 911 calls were made reporting the fire just before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31.
"Our responding crews upgraded to a second alarm fire prior to arrival," Ratushniak said. "Initial crews arrived to find smoke and flames visible and it was subsequently moved up to third alarm fire."
The blaze spread to the adjoining home at 41 Springhurst Ave.
"There are some indicators which have given our incident commanders a reason to call the Fire Marshal office (to investigate)," but said he couldn't expand on that further.
Ratushniak was unable to confirm if these are single family or multi-residential units or how many people were living in the homes. The estimated loss for both buildings is $375,000.
According to Ratushniak, the fire was put out inside of an hour, but a firefighter and a civilian sustained minor injuries and were taken to hospital.
An investigation by the Office of the Fire Marshal typically takes a day or two, but the results can take months to come back, Ratushniak said.