Tags: Toronto or Canada
Well today was an interesting day for the denizens of Toronto! At Portland street and Richmond, a giant 6-Alarm fire broke out in the wee hours of the morning.. lasting the ENTIRE day and decimating an entire city block!
Among the poor victims were Suspect Video- a favorite local video store specializing in Independent, Cult and Rare films and merchandise. Also of note was Duke’s Cycles, a Toronto landmark. Apparently the whole block had been designated as a heritage zone a few months or weeks ago.
Of course, the really funny thing is that I work at Richmond and Portland… basically across the street from the blaze. So I show up for the 9-5 this morning to find a cloud the size of an atom bomb blocking my path, and the majority of Toronto’s fire-fighters kicking the fire’s ass.
From the front of our office building’s window, the fire was basically across the street. Above, you can see the GIANT CLOUD OF PLUMING TOXIC GASES that is heading directly towards our office, where our boss “thanked us for risking our lives to be there and sell office supplies”. Straight out of the fucking Office. (the show)
Of course, there wasn’t much work done in the office, because there was this great big ol’ fire next door to watch… and make sure it wasn’t going to jump across to us and kill us, by taking photos of the smoke.
Between freezing cold and blazing inferno, the firefighters were all covered in ice. They did a damn fine job today, so mega-kudos to the Toronto Fire and Police services. Seeing these guys in action is impressive, to say the least. Thanks boys and gals.
As we went out to scope out the fire, my boss, Harry just HAD to bring along his coffee mug/bowl. This guy embodies everything Canadian- Leafs fan, does a hilarious East-Coaster impression, loves beer, bacon and good times. If I were PM, I’d make him the fucking ambassador to Canada. Just look at that patriot’s stance with the mug. Just LOOK at it.
I tried to take a picture of my office building, but the smoke was too thick, obviously. Beyond those clouds lies yonder office.
After a long battle, around 4-5pm (spanning over 12 hours), the firefighters had won the battle, and were working on suppressing small breakouts and structural collapses. The aforementioned heritage bike shop, Duke’s Cycles was completely demolished.
Our office smelt like burning embers, but the smell could also be smelt all across the entire city. The smoke wafted into the downtown core like some disaster/war movie. Crazy shit, man. Now it remains to be determined the cause of the fire…
Condo developers committing arson after being foiled by the “heritage” status? A resident smoker in bed? Meth lab explosion? Gas line? … Personally, I know the alley behind the stores was quite shady- many-a-time had I been going to work at 8:50-something in the morning only to be offered a chance to buy crack from some dubious-looking chap. Also, I heard a homeless guy say (in jest) to another homeless guy “this guy burnt down our homes!” while on the way home. Though I doubt he was pointing out the culprit, I wouldn’t think it unlikely that a few of the local homeless use that back alley as a shelter and drug-haven and someone dropped their crack-pipe in a pile of rubbish. Still, I’ll wait for the actual report.
All in all, t’was an interesting day. Thanks again to the Toronto Fire-People, and here’s some other (better) pics I found and a video of the fire.
If you want to see better versions of my pics, go to my Flickr page.
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