Two people were killed in a fire near Dovercourt Road and Dupont Street early Friday morning.
Firefighters said this morning they rescued four people from a burning second-floor apartment after the blaze was reported shortly after 3 a.m.
A Toronto Fire Services spokesman said a man in his 20s died at the scene. A female succumbed to her injuries Friday afternoon in hospital.
A cat was also killed in the blaze.
Fire Division Commander Dan MacIsaac said the two-alarm fire occurred in an apartment above a vacant store on Dovercourt, just south of Dupont.
MacIsaac said the back of the two-storey building was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
“The conditions were grave. It was heavy black smoke and the visibility was zero,” MacIsaac told reporters at the scene.
It is believed the fire started in the living room and kitchen area of the apartment, he said.
The cause of the blaze is being investigated by the Office of the Fire Marshal.
MacIsaac said the unoccupied storefront at ground level had a working smoke detector but investigators have not determined if there was a functioning alarm on the second floor.
