Clubhouse of Toronto yacht club gutted following three-alarm fire

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Building destroyed in active three-alarm fire at Toronto Humber Yacht Club

Aerial view of Toronto Humber Yacht Club fire that destroyed building

A three-alarm fire has gutted the clubhouse of a yacht club that has been operating in Etobicoke for decades.

About 27 fire trucks and approximately 100 firefighters were called to the Toronto Etobicoke Yacht Club, located at 101 Humber Valley Road, at around 4:45 a.m. for a massive structure fire.

By 7 a.m., Toronto fire had confirmed that the blaze had been extinguished.

“Crews worked really hard to implement a water relay to make sure we can water down from the main hydrants down to the riverside here,” Deputy Chief Paul Fitzgerald told reporters at the scene.

Eight trucks, he said, were used in a link to bring the water down to the scene.

“It is a long way from the main hydrants. We practice for this. We train for this. The crews implemented their training and managed to get water onto the fire very quickly and knock the fire down very quickly,” he added.

Aerial operations were also implemented to douse the flames, he said.

The fire was contained to the main building with some extension to an adjacent storage area, Fitzgerald said.

“The main structure is fully involved, quite a lot of damage there,” he added, noting that the roof of the clubhouse is gone.

Fire crews will remain on scene for the rest of the day.

The Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) has been notified and an investigation into the blaze is now underway.

“With every fire we have, we will enter an investigation phase now,” Fitzgerald said.

“We have notified the OFM. We are going to work with Toronto police. We have fire investigations on the way for our internal fire services.”

No injuries were reported.

“That is some of the good news that we have. There is no injuries reported by the public or any emergency service personnel,” Fitzgerald said.

“The original calls came in… at around 4:45 a.m. and they saw some fire there. We are really glad that they were local and saw that.”

Sydney Cook, a resident of the area, witnessed firefighters working to extinguish the blaze on Wednesday morning.

“I went to my middle school graduation there. I’m so sad,” he said.

The yacht club currently operates on land owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and the decision was recently made by the City of Toronto not to renew the club’s lease, citing environmental concerns. In a staff report published last month, the city said the site would soon be decommissioned while work is done to determine potential future site uses.