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
DEVELOPING 122 active wildfires burning across Canada, 32 considered 'out of control'
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
B.C. parents sentenced to 15 years for death of 6-year-old boy
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
Police issue Canada-wide warrant for Regina homicide suspect
Police have issued a Canada-wide warrant for a man wanted in a homicide which occurred in Regina on May 12.
Kevin Spacey receives star support as he fights to get his career back
Kevin Spacey is pushing back on the 'rush to judgment' against him and is being backed by some big names as he seeks to reclaim his acting career.
Speaker cuts ties with Sask. Party, alleges he faced threats, harassment from gov't MLAs
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government a 'disgrace' on women's rights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
A Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her. His lawyers argue it wasn't murder
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
Father charged with second-degree murder in daughter's stabbing death southwest of Montreal
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.