“A total loss”: historic Toronto church devastated by flames

St Anne’s Anglican Church in west Toronto is said to be a “total loss” following a major fire.

I am devastated. I feel sorry for my peoplelaments priest Don Beyers, his voice trembling.

The fire broke out shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday morning at the historic church located on Gladstone Avenue, near Dundas Street West.

Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop says the fire is now mastered after a struggle of almost three hours.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but given the state of the building, it’s very unlikely we’ll be able to salvage anything insidesays Deputy Chief Jim Jessop.

As you can imagine, the congregation is devastated by this lossdeplores priest Don Beyers.

You can’t imagine what it means to our church community to arrive on Sunday morning and find that everything you have worked so hard for and done so much for has disappeared in the space of an hour.

Still in shock, he says that the church thus lost works of religious art and precious metals.

But what saddens us most is the fact that it was the only Byzantine-style Anglican church and the loss of the Group of Seven murals. They were masterpieceshe maintains.

St Anne’s Church, built in 1907-1908, was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1996.

E.H. MacDonald”,”text”:”It contains a remarkable series of murals executed in 1923 by ten renowned artists, including three members of the Group of Seven, under the direction of JEH MacDonald”}}”>It contains a remarkable series of murals executed in 1923 by ten renowned artists, including three members of the Group of Seven, under the direction of J. E. H. MacDonaldit is specified in the online directory of federal heritage designations.

In 1980, the City of Toronto also designated the church under the Ontario Heritage Act.

It is a loss not only for the Church, but for all of Canadian culture as well.concludes the priest.

A fourth alarm fire

Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop says the roof was starting to collapse ten minutes after the firefighters arrived inside the building.

They were then forced to retreat.

Ultimately, the intensity of the fourth-alarm fire forced the department to deploy around twenty emergency vehicles, including nine aerial vehicles.

The operations forced the closure of Gladstone Avenue between College and Dundas streets.

Police said they received reports of broken windows and heavy smoke coming from the building.

No occupants or injuries were reported, according to firefighters.

Mr Jessop says it is still too early to determine whether the cause of the fire is suspicious.

However, he claims that the fire was at its strongest towards the rear of the church. He therefore believes that the fire started at this location.

The festival will move forward

Jessop says firefighters are making sure the Do West festival on Dundas Street can go ahead as planned on Sunday.

We are in the process of reducing the level at the second alarm and evacuating some of our equipment from Dundas Street to make way for the festivalhe specifies.

The devices will be relocated to Dufferin Street.

He adds that the number of devices in use will be reduced to around ten given the current intensity of the fire.

Do West festival spokesperson Kristyn Gelfand says the management team’s number one concern is the safety of our community and that it works with the authorities to ensure that they have the space to do their work.