Ontario’s Fire Marshal has said that a massive six-alarm fire that ripped through a west-end high school last May was accidental.
Emergency crews were called to York Memorial Collegiate Institute, located near Keele Street and Eglinton Avenue West, around 3:30 a.m. on May 7. Hours earlier, firefighters had knocked down a three-alarm fire at the same building.
At the height of the blaze, 150 firefighters were on scene. Heavy smoke blanketed the neighbourhoods, resulting in evacuations of the area.
The main body of the fire was mostly contained to the auditorium, investigators said at the time. The 90-year-old building sustained extensive water and smoke damage.
Firefighters work on a fire at York Memorial Collegiate Institute in Toronto on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin)
On Thursday, Carole Gravelle at the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office said the fire was ruled accidental, but investigators “were unable to isolate an ignition source.”
Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said in a statement that he has received a report about the fire at York Memorial Collegiate Institute, but would not be commenting at this time.
“Our team will review this fire investigation report in detail in order to gain a full understanding as to the origin, cause and circumstance analysis that has been completed and determinations that have been reached by the Ontario Office of the Fire Marshal,” he said.
Students from the school were relocated to George Harvey Collegiate for the remainder of the school year and returning students will go to class at Scarlett Heights in September.
