Truemors
More than a hundred Firefighters, 45 trucks and 2 Hazmat units were at the scene of a five-alarm blaze at an apartment building on Secord Avenue, just NW of Dawes Road and Danforth Avenue today.
The fire broke out just before 11:00AM with a hydro vault on the first floor of the 21-storey building exploding shortly after Firefighters arrived, sending six to hospital - three with second degree burns.
A resident evacuating the building was also taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
Residents from the 300 unit building along with a nearby townhouse complex were evacuated to the nearby Secord Elementary School as a precaution due to the toxic smoke.
According to Toronto Fire Chief Bill Stewart the fireball from the explosion blew the hydro vault room doors off, moved nearby parked cars, and a fire truck on scene at the time was lifted off the ground.
Officials say the explosion may have caused significant damage to the building.
"If they (residents) return tonight is dependent on the situation. They have no hydro and no water," Stewart said.
A structural engineer was expected to arrive to assess the damage before allowing residents to return to the building.
The cause of the fire was still undetermined.
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at 04:51 on July 21st, 2008
I wasnt even expecting this to happen,me and my little sister(im 16 my sister is 10) were laying in bed when all of a sudden we felt the building shake and the winow banging and people screaming outside,we ran to the living room to ask my parents what had happened,and they told us it was an explosion and we had to leave the house,so me and my sister just got dressed really quick fixed our room and ran out of the house.My dads car was at leats only 3 metres away from the explosion so most likely there is going to be alot of damage done to the car. We're now staying at my uncles house for who knows how long waiting to hear when its safe to go home.