Fire at Toronto condo buildings caused by repair work after last year’s blaze: chief

TORONTO — Officials say a fire at two Toronto highrises was caused by workers doing repairs after a similar blaze that smouldered inside the walls of both buildings last year and displaced their residents.

Toronto fire Chief Jim Jessop says crews responded to a call about a fire at 11 Thorncliffe Park Drive and 21 Oversea Boulevard in Thorncliffe Park area on Monday morning.

Jessop says the fire started after sparks from a saw cutting into concrete ignited the insulation in a unit on the seventh floor.

He says no one was injured in the incident and the buildings are not being evacuated at this time.

Jessop says he couldn’t provide a timeline for when the blaze might be extinguished but firefighters will remain on scene unit the fire is completely out.

More than 400 units were evacuated in last year’s fire, which began on Nov. 7 and smouldered for weeks.

Jessop says that will not happen this time because it’s currently safe for tenants to stay in their units.

“We have no intention of disrupting their lives at this point, especially given what they went through at the end of 2025,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.

But fire crews will continuously monitor the buildings for both smoke and carbon monoxide, he said.

“I want the residents of the building to completely understand what happened, to alleviate any fear or any concern,” he said.

“We generally don’t speak this quickly about the results of investigations, but we absolutely believe this is the appropriate time to do so.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026.

The Canadian Press