Two homes under construction in Scarborough are completely destroyed after a suspicious fire that reached three alarms early Friday morning.
Firefighters say they were called to 57 Westbourne Avenue, off of Conroy Avenue between Victoria Park and Pharmacy avenues, at 2:30 a.m. for reports of a fire in a home.
Neighbours who were roused out of bed by the flames and the ensuing commotion told CP24 the flames eventually spread to a neighbouring home.
Police evacuated several other homes in the area.
The response to the flames eventually reached three alarms.
Platoon Chief James Green said the rear of both homes collapsed quickly after they started spraying the flames.
“We made sure our crews stayed way out of the collapsed zone – we had to go defensive pretty quick on this.”
He said that the homes did not yet have drywall installed; there was no hydro or heat operational or present in either of them, meaning there was no obvious ignition source.
In addition, several neighbours approached police and firefighters at the scene with video footage of someone running from the scene and speeding off in a car shortly before the flames emerged.
Green said it is likely the two homes will have to be knocked down.
