Latest news with #TorontoFireServices
CTV News
5 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
‘I was trapped': Nearly 100 people needed to be rescued from Toronto elevators during heat wave
Tenants in a North Toronto apartment tower have been without one elevator for months, and then lost the other one in the middle of a record heat wave. Tenants in a North Toronto apartment tower have been without one elevator for months, and then lost the other one in the middle of a record heat wave. CTV's Jon Woodward reports. Nearly 100 people needed rescuing from Toronto elevators that broke down or got stuck during the city's recent record-breaking heat wave, according to figures provided to CTV News by Toronto Fire Services. The rising temperatures, humidity, and sometimes power outages were all factors in the 96 rescues in three days – more than triple the usual call volume – as critics also wonder if weaknesses in provincial elevator regulations played a role. 'In the heat wave, you have moisture. These are mechanical units. They're often very safe, but sometimes they stop in the heat, and we respond,' said Toronto Fire Services Division Command Paul O'Brien in an interview. Residents of a north Toronto building at 45 Driftwood Ave. told CTV News they believe they're responsible for a disproportionate number of those responses. One of the two elevators in the 14-storey building hasn't worked for about five months due to a fire. The other went down a few days ago, tenants said. 45 Driftwood Ave. elevator The elevators at 45 Driftwood Ave. is seen in this undated photo. 'During the heat wave three days ago, I was trapped in the elevator. I was there for 32 minutes before the fire department came to take me down,' said Ola Adekolu, who lives on the seventh floor. She needs the elevator as her knees are so arthritic. 'We were sweating like crazy, four of us in the elevator,' she said. Another tenant, Marcia Walker, said when she uses the elevator, she is wary, wondering if she'll have to jump out at any time. 'I was lucky that it's only one time that I've been stuck in the elevator, but there are other times that it seems like the elevator wanted to get me stuck, and so what I did is I go like this,' she said, gesturing as if she was pulling the door open. 'I push the door open, and I run,' she said. Element Elevators, the company responsible for elevator maintenance at the building on Driftwood, told CTV News that the elevator has likely been on the fritz because of an unusual control system that was designed in Ontario but whose designers have since passed away. 'They are few and far between. Limited tech support and no documentation whatsoever to guide us,' said Bogdan Rus, the company's vice president of operations. 'It's a tricky situation,' he said. As for the other elevator, it was damaged in the fire, and he's waiting for the owners, Terrace Wood Apartments, to work through insurance complications related to the fire. An entirely new elevator system can cost between $200,000 and $300,000, he said. Rus said he was able to fix one elevator a few hours after CTV News visited on Friday. He shared some videos of the control room and the functioning system. Terrace Woods Apartments does wish to fix the other elevator but is hamstrung to some extent as the fire that damaged the elevator began in the unit of a tenant who didn't have insurance, said Ravi Sivalingam, the owner's representative. 'We are genuinely empathetic to the situation, and we don't want to frustrate our tenants, but our hands are tied as to what the elevator company can do to get the parts to restore the second elevator,' he said. The area's MPP, Tom Rakocevic, said he believes this situation is indicative of a failure of a provincial inspection regime that was called out in a provincial auditor-general's report in 2018. MPP Tom Rakocevic MPP Tom Rakocevic speaks with a woman at an apartment building in North York. (Jon Woodward) 'It's been seven years since, and it's happening not just here but across the city,' Rakocevic said. Ontario's elevator watchdog, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, said owners of residential elevators are required to report outages that last more than 48 hours. Those figures show an increase from 28 a month in June 2022- May 2023 to 29 a month in 2023-2024 and 34 a month in 2024-2025. 'As reporting requirements are only a few years old, it's not clear if there are more outages or the reporting has improved. Also, please note that these numbers do not account for any increases in the total number of residential elevators installed in the province,' wrote TSSA spokesperson Alexandra Campbell. O'Brien said elevators are generally safe, and if you are stuck in one, stay calm and don't try to escape, which can lead to a much more dangerous situation, he said. 'Do not try and self-rescue,' he said. 'There's usually a bell or a phone system, and they're usually monitored by a security officer on scene. Just remain calm. If you're feeling a little hot in there, sit down, we will get to you,' he said.
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Extreme heat led to 42 emergency room visits in Toronto, public health agency says
The heat event that gripped the city from Sunday to Tuesday is being blamed for 42 trips to emergency rooms at local hospitals, Toronto Public Health says. In a statement on Wednesday, the public health agency said the number of heat-related ER visits was not surprising. TPH said the number is "consistent with the known health risks associated with prolonged exposure to high temperatures, particularly for vulnerable populations such as infants, older adults, individuals with pre-existing health conditions, those experiencing homelessness, and outdoor workers." The public health agency is reminding residents to take steps to prevent heat-related illnesses. "We continue to remind residents to take precautions during hot weather, including staying hydrated, seeking out air-conditioned spaces, checking in on others, and seeking emergency care when needed," TPH said. Elevator rescues, medical responses, vehicle extractions Toronto Fire Services said it saw an increase in emergency calls of up to 44 per cent for service during the extreme heat. "Everything from elevator rescues to emergency medical responses to fires, to vehicle extrications and water rescues — it has been an extremely busy three days," Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop said Wednesday. Jessop said a heat event puts pressure on the city's emergency response system but front-line responders are always prepared to help those in need. "We plan for whether it's plus 45 with the humidex or it's minus 45 in January," Jessop said. "We've got very experienced and seasoned individuals both in our comm centre and certainly on our front lines. But we absolutely have plans for all the extremes because we know at the end of the day, we are the last line of defence for the citizens." Dr. Samantha Green, a family physician at Unity Health Toronto who specializes in heat and health, said the heat exacerbates chronic conditions and can trigger heart attacks and worsen underlying asthma and diabetes. "When we're exposed to this extreme heat, especially for several days in a row, especially when the temperature doesn't drop at night, there is the risk of heat-related illness, so heat exhaustion and heat stroke, especially among those with chronic medical conditions and the elderly." Green said all levels of government need to ensure people stay safe during heat events. "We really need to be better prepared at the individual level, but really at all levels of government, because it shouldn't be a surprise that in the summer it's hot and it's getting hotter."
CBC
20-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Thousands of customers without power in Toronto as high winds sweep city
Social Sharing Thousand of customers are without power across Toronto on Thursday evening after high winds swept through the city. Crews were working to restore power to about 3,400 customers at about 8:15 p.m., according to Maja Boric, spokesperson for Toronto Hydro. No injuries have been reported. Toronto Fire Services said firefighters were responding to calls about wires down at a number of locations in the city. These include Park Street and Sandown Avenue in Scarborough, Allenby Avenue and Islington Avenue near Highway 401 in Etobicoke, Leopold Street in Parkdale, and Kendal Avenue and Walmer Road in the Annex. Toronto police said a few houses were evacuated on Kendal Avenue because several trees and wires came down, but Toronto Fire Services said later that the owners have returned and secured their properties.
CTV News
02-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Woman taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation after fire breaks out at East York apartment building
A Toronto Fire Services truck is pictured in this photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Dominic Chan) A woman has been taken to the hospital with serious injuries following a fire in East York on Monday afternoon, say Toronto Paramedic Services. The two-alarm fire broke out at a residential highrise building on Wakunda Place, near O'Connor Drive and St. Clair Avenue East. Toronto fire said they were called to the area at 1:42 p.m. and rescued one person from their unit. Paramedics said they transported an adult female with serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries to the hospital. They say she had suffered smoke inhalation.
Hamilton Spectator
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
Car fires are more common than you think. What are the common causes?
'There's a car fire somewhere in Toronto every day, but it rarely makes the news,' says Michael Wood, a Toronto Fire Services captain. Despite high-profile incidents involving electric vehicles (EVs), North American fire services are preoccupied with a far more common menace: fires involving conventional gasoline-powered cars and trucks. Here's a little-known fact: internal combustion engines grow more hazardous with age, especially as our vehicles become neglected and begin to leak flammable fluids. Transport Canada estimates there are about 10,000 vehicle fires nationally per year. In the U.S., more than 170,000 vehicle fires occur annually on average, accounting for one in every eight calls to fire departments there. EVs make up a tiny fraction of vehicle fires. The civil authority in Sweden reported 23 fires in 611,000 EVs in 2022, or 0.00004 per cent. It's true the fires involving electric vehicles can be dramatic, serious and hard to control. An electric Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 sedan parked in an underground apartment garage in South Korea spontaneously caught fire and damaged some 140 other vehicles and left 200 families homeless for weeks. In Toronto, a Tesla Model 3 driven at high speed crashed into a bridge abutment, killing four occupants and starting a battery fire that smouldered for days. They're just two incidents in a growing litany of events that have drawn attention to the challenges of an EV fire that sees its lithium-ion battery overheat or short-circuit, triggering a chemical reaction and fire that can last for days — even submerged under water. 'We're still learning to deal with EV fires,' explained Wood, who is co-ordinator of Centennial College's pre-service firefighter program. 'In the case of the Tesla crash, we put the car's battery into a dumpster, moved it to a secure location and poured sand over it to suppress the fire.' There's little information conveyed about car fires on how they start and why. Proper automobile maintenance goes a long way in keeping your daily ride from going up in smoke. Wood outlined many of the causes of vehicle fires and what he's seen on the job: Leaky fuel system: Fuel leaks are among the most common causes. Gasoline fires typically arise from old, worn fuel lines or faulty fuel line connectors, and leaky fuel-injection systems. Because gasoline vaporizes across a wide air temperature range, the fuel/oxygen mix present under the hood is ideal for ignition. All that's needed is an errant spark. Today's fuel pumps aggravate the problem by working harder to compensate for the drop in line pressure, inadvertently feeding a potential fire. Wood watched a Ford F-150 pickup burn to the ground after it had been serviced (poorly) for a fuel leak. The aluminum hood and body panels melted away, but not before producing some lovely colours as the magnesium burned. Electrical system faults: Electrical system failures are another common cause of vehicle fires. Engines move on their mounts and virtually everything under the hood shakes to some degree, allowing cables to rub off their insulation or fray, and a short-circuit to develop, over time. Battery and starter cables carry enough current to ignite combustibles in the event of a fault. A vehicle's 12-volt battery may produce hydrogen gas when charging, creating an explosion hazard. Fuses, fusible links and circuit breakers provide an element of safety in case of overloaded wiring, but component faults or careless repairs can defeat these safeguards. Overheating engines: An overheating engine is not an uncommon occurrence as a neglected vehicle ages. A malfunctioning radiator or cooling fan is all it takes to send the engine temperature into the red zone and potentially crack the engine's head. Combine an overheated engine with combustible liquids, such as motor oil, transmission fluid and brake fluid, and you have a recipe for disaster. The exhaust manifold on a hot-running engine can exceed 500C — that's high enough to ignite any liquids oozing from a leaking seal. Aftermarket accessories: Sloppy accessory installations can introduce an electrical fault and cause a fire down the road, according to Wood. Something as simple as a mounting screw contacting high-output stereo wiring can short circuit the system and light a fire. Many custom installations have two batteries to operate all of the sound equipment, which makes things doubly complicated. Always get your aftermarket accessories installed by an authorized technician. Backyard mechanics can often overlook complex issues involving the vehicle's computers and wiring. Shortcuts can introduce unwelcome hazards. Catalytic converters: Catalytic converters in your car's exhaust system are tiny incinerators that operate at 700C-800C to convert the harmful exhaust gases into inert ones. A clogged catalytic converter can easily overheat, rising to more than 1,000C, hot enough to heat up the carpet and other combustibles under your feet. Catalytic converters can be a magnet for road debris that catches on the heat shield protecting the converter and this can ignite. A flimsy heat shield may fall off after several years, leaving the catalytic converter exposed to debris, such as plastic or paper bags. (Wood noted that vehicles, especially farm machinery, parked on long dry grass, can set the field ablaze if the heat shield is missing.) Mechanics often throw away loose shields, but they really need to be reaffixed to keep combustibles away from the heat. Pesky animals: Auto technicians often remove nests and stashes of nuts that rodents love to store within the warm confines of an engine. Dried leaves, twigs and other nesting materials rodents bring into the engine compartment act as kindling that can create a fire under the hood, explained Wood. The auto industry's zeal to adopt recyclable, organic materials has introduced a new problem: soy-based electrical wire insulation. This has become a rat treat. Toothy rodents can expose hot wires that may eventually cause a fire. You can buy wire wrap, infused with rodent-repellent, to address the problem. Dangerous cargo: Some people store spare fuel and combustible products in their car or truck. Unauthorized containers left in a hot car will allow fuel to expand, then leak and saturate the trunk liner or carpeting. A motorist who kept pool chlorine in his trunk, along with a cardboard box saturated by a leaky container of brake fluid, saw smoke seeping from his trunk lid — right before watching his vehicle burst into flames, said Wood. In the event of a collision, propane tanks and gas cans can fuel a big fire and endanger lives, he added. Smoking and driving: While just 11 per cent of Canadians are regular smokers, that's still enough of them to make driving and smoking a common hazard. Wood recited stories of motorists who have flicked their cigarette out the window, only to have the burning butt re-enter through the back window and land on the upholstery or carpeting, igniting the synthetic materials. A variation of that, said Wood, involves pickup truck drivers who throw their cigarette out and it lands in the bed of the pickup. The smouldering butt can set fire to cargo, such as cardboard boxes, sawdust and spilled oil, on the bed floor. Some cargo doesn't even need an ignition source, Wood noted. 'Somebody was hauling old manure in their pickup truck on a hot day, and the stuff generated enough heat on its own to spontaneously combust.' No bull!
