Flights cancelled, hundreds evacuated following fire in terminal 1 at Pearson airport

Hundreds of people have been evacuated following a fire inside terminal one at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, according to Peel police.

Following the incident, all flights to the U.S. scheduled to depart from terminal one Sunday evening were cancelled, according to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA).

Outbound international flights and inbound arrivals were suspended at the terminal, but have since resumed.

Police said the fire was extinguished without any major injuries, but a few patients were treated by paramedics for smoke-related injuries.

A passenger in the terminal at the time of the incident, who was later evacuated, said she saw smoke coming out of a display stand from a duty-free shop.

"Significant" amounts of water and smoke remained in the area following the incident, according to police.

Police are encouraging passengers to check their flight status before arriving, especially those scheduled to travel to the U.S. Sunday evening or Monday.

'Everyone was kind of in awe and shock'

Passenger Kendall Wilson said she had already been processed by security for her 8 p.m. flight to Phoenix when everyone around her froze, noticing smoke in the air around them.

That's when Wilson noticed smoke coming out of a display stand in a nearby shop.

Submitted/James Agnew
Submitted/James Agnew

She said she saw customer service representatives at the shop, walking around frantically

"Everyone was kind of in awe and shock," Wilson said, adding she got separated from her mother who was also flying to Phoenix with her.

Luckily, Wilson was able to FaceTime her to see that she was okay.

"Smoke was coming quite steadily, it was quite shocking."