Man hospitalized in serious condition following fire at homeless encampment near DVP
One man has been hospitalized in serious condition following a fire Sunday morning at a homeless encampment near the Don Valley Parkway, paramedics say.
Emergency crews were called to the area of Bayview Avenue and Corktown Common Trail just before 6 a.m.
Toronto Fire Capt. David Eckerman told CBC News that numerous callers from the Don Valley Parkway reported a large fire in a ravine area.
"We had reports of numerous propane tanks involved, which were exploding," Eckerman told CBC Toronto.
"Also, we had reports of as many as four people suffering some injuries — two of them with smoke inhalation."
Toronto paramedics said they transported one man to hospital in serious condition, and there were no other patients on scene.
Difficulty accessing scene of fire
Eckerman said the location of the fire made the job harder for firefighters.
"Some of our trucks wouldn't fit through the passageway that we were following [because] they weren't built for vehicle traffic," he explained.
After getting the fire completely knocked down, Eckerman said crews were able to search the area.
No other injured people were found.
Site visited 7 times in February, mayor says
Later on Sunday, Mayor John Tory said the fire highlights why the city cannot allow encampments to continue.
"This site was the subject of seven visits in the month of February alone by outreach workers and street-to-home teams, trying to make sure that people find their way to other places with our help," Tory said.
"This is a good reason why we just cannot let these encampments stay indefinitely in place because there are dangers that come about whether it's a fire or other things that make it necessary for these not to to stay in place in the long term."
Tory said the city's "principal objective" is to get more supportive and affordable housing in place so that people don't have to live in encampments.
He said there are thousands of affordable housing units, either under approval or under construction.
"A lot of work [is] being done with the other governments to increase the supply of supportive housing," Tory added.
