A three alarm fire early Sunday morning near Christie Pits left 8 people injured along with a Toronto firefighter.
Fire crews responded to a call at 703 Dupont street just after 6am. When they arrived they found heavy smoke and flames coming from the home and several people waiting outside.
Chief Mathew Pegg spoke to CP24 and confirmed that 3 of the tennants suffered injuries that required a run to the hospital.
"I don't know their exact condition other than obviously the medics assessed that they had signifcant enough injuries to go to hospital. Everyone was out so that's great news upon the arrival of our crews, everyone had made it out of the home on their own."
Pegg added the remaining 5 patients were to be assessed at the scene.
A mother cat and kittens were also rescued from the fire.
Pegg also confirmed that one of his firefighters was injured battling the blaze when he fell off the roof of one of the homes.
"He was part of a fire attack team working on the roof level of the second story of the home, fell off the roof and obviously down to the ground. "
Around 9:30 am Pegg was able to update the firefighter's condition.
"The update is that he is stable. There's no indication that there is any significant trauma. Sounds like he was very fortunate. That's fantastic news for us."
The fire ending up spreading to four homes. The fire was eventually knocked down just before 8:30 a.m. But crews are expected to remain on scene for much of the day, which will also cause some traffic snarls for local residents, with Dupont street remaining closed as the clean up and investigation continue.
"I know we're impacting traffic and certainly I appreciate everyone's patience, we'll do our very best to at least open part of the road, we are going to have to have some equipment here. Unfortunately that causes some delays."
For those displaced, the TTC brought in a shelter bus to keep them warm for a time, but eventually all have made arrangements to go elsewhere.
As for a cause, that has yet to be determined but Pegg added that it appeared renovations were being done on the intial unit that caught fire.
Fire investigators are now on scene interviewing and assessing the scene, who will then work with the office of the Fire Marshal.
Today’s fire is a reminder of the hazards faced by FF’s during rescue and firefighting operations. We are so fortunate to have the expertise and capabilities of @TorontoMedics and @TorontoPolice on every scene. They look after residents and @Toronto_Fire personnel. Thank you!
— Matthew Pegg (@ChiefPeggTFS) March 25, 2018