Toronto police appeal for info after woman found on fire in tent in south Etobicoke

The incident happened behind what appears to be an abandoned building in the New Toronto neighbourhood, near Lake Shore Boulevard West and Eighth Street.

Toronto police are working to piece together exactly what happened after being called to an abandoned property in south Etobicoke for reports of an assault and finding a woman on fire inside a tent in a nearby laneway.

The incident happened on Tuesday in the New Toronto neighbourhood, near Lake Shore Boulevard West and Eighth Street.

Toronto police said a passerby called 911 and they were dispatched to that area just before 10:40 a.m. for reports of a dispute in that area involving a male and a female.

Speaking with reporters at the scene on Tuesday afternoon, Duty Insp. Peter Wallace said, upon arrival, officers located a tent “engulfed in fire.”

He said they then found a woman around 50 years old on fire inside the structure.

“As a result, officers pulled her out and provide the necessary medical attention, along with paramedics. She was rushed to a trauma center with life-threatening injuries,” Wallace said, adding the officer who pulled the woman out of the tent sustained minor injuries to his hands but has since been released from the hospital.

Another officer, he said, used a fire extinguisher to douse the blaze.

“I must tell you that our thoughts are with this person as she received treatments,” Wallace added.

Paramedics told CP24 they transported a woman to the hospital with severe, life-threatening injuries.

The duty inspector said police are looking to speak with a woman who was seen walking away from the area at the time of the fire, which he noted “appears suspicious.”

“We’re working to determine who she is and whether she may have information that could help us understand what occurred here today,” Wallace said.

“We would like to speak to her to determine if she is involved in this incident.”

Police could not say exactly what role the male may have in this incident. Wallace did say it does not appear he was on-scene at the time of the tent fire.

Insp. Jeff Bangild, of 22 Division, said the building at the centre of their investigation is abandoned, adding an unknown number of people have been squatting inside it and in the nearby lane where the woman’s tent was located.

He said police and city workers regularly check on the wellbeing of its occupants, adding no criminality of this “magnitude or alarm” has happened there.

The area remains blocked off.

The investigation, which is being led by the Office of the Fire Marshal, is in its the early stages. Officers are now speaking with witnesses and canvassing the area for evidence.

Toronto police are asking anyone with further information about the assault and/or the fire is asked to contact them at 416-808-2200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

“We’re looking for information that alludes to both of them. It might be connected, but we’re certainly interested in anybody that might be in the building that can assist with that information,” Bangild said.