An elderly man is dead and his wife is in hospital after a fire broke out in a Forest Hill high-rise Monday morning.
Toronto Fire Services said the two-alarm blaze broke out in an apartment on Shallmar Boulevard, near Bathurst Street West and Eglinton Avenue, shortly after 6:30 a.m.
Officials said in a release that a brief 911 call had been made from a seventh-floor apartment unit "before the caller dropped the phone to seek shelter in the hallway."
When fire crews arrived, they found that smoke was heavy throughout the building's seventh floor. Inside the unit where the fire originated, an 85-year-old man was found dead.
The deceased man's 74-year-old wife was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital suffering from severe smoke inhalation and emotional trauma.
Five other people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, including two children who were treated for smoke inhalation.
The blaze was brought under control just before 7 a.m. Because of the fatality, the office of the Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate.
Officials said that smoke alarms were operating during the incident, as 911 dispatchers could hear the alarms during the initial emergency call.
Three floors were evacuated as smoke spread though the building. Many residents were forced to wait in an emergency TTC bus which was parked out front.
Young resident Tess Jacob said that there was "thick, black smoke" in the building, forcing the child to flee with her mom and brother.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Janice Golding
