One person dead after fire at downtown Toronto community housing building

TORONTO — Fire officials say one person is dead after a Sunday evening fire at an apartment in a Toronto community housing building.

Toronto Fire Services say crews responded to a fire at a highrise in the area of Yonge and Gerrard streets just before 10 p.m.

Fire Chief Jim Jessop says firefighters went into the building and had to force their way into a unit on the eighth floor where “they were met with heavy smoke and heat.”

Jessop says crews found someone in the unit who was without vital signs and brought that person out.

He says emergency crews performed life-saving measures but the person was pronounced dead.

Fire officials say investigators are at the scene and will work with the Ontario Fire Marshal to determine the cause, origin and circumstances of the fire.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2026.