Parts of Yonge St. and Hwy. 401 closed due to burning communications tower

Parts of Yonge Street and Highway 401 have been shut down in North York after a communications tower caught fire.

Toronto police said the fire was reported just before 9 a.m. and they subsequently closed down roads in the area due to the possibility that the tower might collapse on the highway or road.

Yonge Street is currently closed both ways in the area. The OPP have also shut down the westbound collector lanes of Highway 401 from Leslie Street, as well as the westbound on-ramp at Yonge.

Westbound traffic on Hwy. 401 is being forced into the express transfer at Leslie.

It is not yet clear how the fire started.

Toronto Fire said the fire has been extinguished and that an engineer is on scene to assess the damage.