Residents spending 4th day away from home due to Thorncliffe Park fire

Residents at two East York apartment buildings will spend a fourth day out of their homes with no time frame for when they might be able to return.

A five-alarm fire around 1:30 p.m. Thursday at 11 Thorncliffe Park, which then spread to a neighbouring building at 21 Overlea Boulevard, displaced residents in more than 400 units due to high levels of carbon monoxide.

There was no update on Sunday, with officials previously saying it could be hours or even days before the fire is fully extinguished. An update is expected on Monday.

“It’s been very stressful since lunchtime Thursday, it’s the not knowing that’s stressful,” said one resident who spoke with The Leader Spirit on Saturday.

“It’s day four for me and my parents,” said Jeremiah, who stopped by the building on Sunday to pick up clothes to take to the laundry mat in order to wash the smell of smoke out of them.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do, we’re just getting anything we can that we’ll need for the next, maybe, two weeks because they are not giving us any news.”

Jeremiah tells The Leader Spirit they’ve been told the rooms at the nearby hotel, where many of the residents are staying, have been paid up until Tuesday.

“We don’t know how long it’s going to take, maybe three days, four days? We’re just hoping that it’s going to be over soon because there’s a lot of people over at the hotel that are elderly and disabled and don’t have a place to go.”

Fire officials have said the fire is “still burning” behind the walls, describing the situation as complex and unusual. Crews said they are making slow progress as heat and carbon monoxide levels continue to decrease.

“Our progress is going in the direction we want, however, very slowly,” Acting Division Commander Rob Hewson said on Saturday.

Even when the fire is fully extinguished, fire crews say they will remain on site for no less than 24 hours to ensure carbon monoxide levels return to zero.

The fire is believed to have started in the building’s underground parking structure before making its way up, but the exact cause and origin of the blaze remains under investigation.