Video shows man dangling from balcony to escape Toronto high-rise fire
Neighbours watched in disbelief and horror as a man dangled from a Scarborough high-rise balcony, let go and dropped a storey, then caught himself on the railing below to escape the flames burning through an adjacent apartment on Saturday.
Video from a resident of West Hill Apartments on Lawrence Ave. near Kingston Rd. and shared with CTV News Toronto shows the man on the fifth floor first take what appears to be the wheel of a bike to break through the chicken wire on the balcony.
“It was like something out of a movie,” Shane Greer recalled.
A tenant of the high-rise Toronto Community Housing residence, Greer says he wasn’t sure of the danger when the fire alarm first sounded around 4 p.m. Saturday, as the alarms are often pulled as pranks in the building.
“I wasn't taking any chances,” Greer said. “I grabbed this dog, I ran like hell, down the hallway, down the stairs, out here to see how bad it was.”
Flames covered the walls of a unit on the fifth floor, and licked up the balcony to the floors above.
Ryan Richter was driving by. His partner Tiffany pulled out her phone to record the terrifying scene they were witnessing, taking the above video from the car.
“You could see like the roof, the walls, everything was engulfed in flame,” Richter said.
One resident of the building was pronounced dead at the scene. Five other residents were taken to hospital — one woman in her 60s sustained life-threatening injuries, according to Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg.
Firefighters are on the scene of a two-alarm fire that broke out in a unit at an apartment building near Kingston Road and Lawrence Avenue East. (Simon Sheehan/CP24)
The fifth-floor hallways have been left an ashy mess. Some residents of the building say they have no working stoves, and the elevator is now out of service while Fire Marshal investigators continue to piece together what happened.
“Fire inspectors said they’ll be here for the next two days, so obviously the elevators are going to be down, probably, until Wednesday morning,” said Bianca Hubbard, who lives on the 11th floor.
“While the investigation has only just begun, any determination of cause would be premature at this stage,” Sean Driscoll with the Office of the Fire Marshal said on Sunday, “however I can confirm that the fire started in, and was isolated to, a single unit.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
A look back on Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season: Preparing for potential challenges in 2024
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.