By Sarah Del Giallo

As fire fighter’s battled the flames at the previous home of Salad King at Yonge and Gould, owner Ernest Liu watched from the window of the restaurant’s new location across the street.

Liu no longer has any responsibility for the building that was engulfed in a six-alarm fire earlier this morning at 4 a.m. He doesn’t understand how the fire could have started.

“I don’t see the reason for it. There’s no power, no hydro, no gas,” said Liu. “Of course the building’s not protected by the fire systems because nothing is there.”

Liu said that if his restaurant had still occupied 355 Yonge Street, the fire probably wouldn’t have happened, or at least grown to proportions that require 32 fire trucks.

“[The fire] would probably be put out by the fire systems. And also, nobody could get in and set fire.” said Liu. “Of course there’s a fear of arson. But maybe someone was trying to keep warm.”

“It’s a pity to see a nice building like that go away. Of course the inside of the building is really old, but the outside is good looking. And there aren’t too many [buildings] like that in the city of Toronto.”

Salad King will still be reopening at the end of the month at 340 Yonge street, above Foot Locker, as planned. Delays may only occur if Yonge street is closed for a lengthy period of time because of the fire.

Firefighters are still at the scene. The investigation is not yet underway, so the source of the flames is still unknown.

Photo by Nicole Siena