One person is dead following a fire at a downtown Toronto highrise on Tuesday morning. Toronto Fire Services (TFS) said a call came in at 10:30 a.m. for reports of a smoke on the 19th floor of 200 Wellesley St. E. “Our crews went to the 19th floor, found smoke on the 19th floor. Entered a 19th floor unit. There was smoke in the unit from a small kitchen fire,” TFS Division Commander Paul O’Brien said. The fire was subsequently knocked down. O’Brien said a male occupant was found without vital signs during the primary search. He was pronounced dead at the scene. When asked if the cause of death was related to the fire, O’Brien said that will be part of the investigation. “Our investigators have attended, and we’ll be consulting also with the fire marshal as well,” O’Brien said. Toronto police Duty Insp. John Rose said officers will look if there was criminality in the fire. “This is a brand-new investigation; it’s in its infancy as we speak,” Rose said. “We’re going to be looking at the facts and the evidence as it presents itself.” The cause, origin, and circumstances of the fire are unknown at this time. O’Brien said crews spent time ventilating the hallways, stairwells and upper floors where smoke migrated. It was the second fatal fire in the city on Tuesday. One person died in a two-alarm apartment building fire in Scarborough earlier this morning.
