Abandoned heritage building catches fire near student residence

By Benjamin Steiner

Residents of Parkside, a student housing complex two blocks from Ryerson University, were forced to evacuate their rooms early Monday morning after an abandoned building next to the residence caught fire. 

Firefighters were called to the historic 314 Jarvis Street home, adjacent to Parkside late Sunday night, said Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg.

The building continued to burn until Toronto Fire services were able to put out the two-alarm blaze around 12:30 a.m. on Monday. No serious injuries were reported.

The home, which has been in downtown Toronto for over a century, has a history of fires, this being the fifth fire at the property since 2015 and third since the beginning of the year. 

Ryerson’s International Living and Learning Centre (ILLC) was also evacuated temporarily.

Pegg deemed the fire as a suspicious activity. As for the state of the heritage home, the City of Toronto said that they will conduct an investigation of what caused the fire.