More than a dozen people were displaced from their homes after a blockage flooded four apartment buildings in the Old Mill area on Canada Day.
Crews were called to the buildings on Bloor Street West, near Old Mill Trail, at around 10 p.m. on Monday night.
Images from the scene showed water pouring over balconies and ponding around the building.
“There was a blockage underground and it affected several buildings,” Platoon Chief Dave Fairman of Toronto Fire told reporters.
“We evacuated the lower floors that were affected by the backup.”
Residential units at two buildings were evacuated, while the parking and storage areas of two other buildings were also affected.
Katherine Trowel said she was at home when the flooding started, describing it as “dreadful.”
“Fireworks were going off. I heard what sounded like a lot of rain coming and I thought ‘Gee, that’s too bad, no more fireworks’ and I thought I would sit out on the balcony and enjoy the rain, only it wasn’t rain,” Trowel said.
“I looked and I saw water pouring out of the building like Niagara Falls. It was awful. It was sewage.”
A total of 16 people were displaced from their homes. Ten of them made their own arrangements to find other accommodations for the night, while the city arranged temporary housing for six others.
On Tuesday afternoon, crews were busy tearing up the carpet in the hallway of the building and cleaning up the damage caused by the water.
There’s no estimate for the damage so far.
