Heavy equipment begins demolishing parts of school ravaged by fire

Crews brought in heavy construction equipment on Wednesday to begin tearing down parts of a historic Toronto school devastated by fire.

A six-alarm blaze tore through York Memorial Collegiate Institute Tuesday morning, the second fire that broke out on the property at Eglinton Avenue W. and Keele Street in just two days.

Excavators began deconstructing the brick exterior of the building in order to get to overhead beams that could fall on firefighters.

By mid-afternoon, the fire was out. Wrecking crews were pulling out debris and confirming there weren't any more hotspots, district chief Steve Darling of Toronto Fire told reporters at the scene.

A preliminary assessment by engineers suggested that the portion of the building that includes the auditorium, where the fire seemed to be concentrated, will need to be rebuilt, and a portion of the roof will need to be replaced.

"But the rest of the building is pretty much intact. It looks like, anyway," Darling said.

Smoke and water damage, however, "is pretty extensive," he added. "But the actual structure itself looks like it can be salvaged."

Earlier Wednesday, deputy chief of operations with Toronto Fire Mike McCoy said parts of the roof collapsed at the height of the blaze.

Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said Tuesday that firefighters tried to prevent the blaze from spreading into the east and west wings, an operation that appears to have been mostly successful.

Fire burned for more than 24 hours

Despite their efforts, there is substantial damage to the 90-year-old building. The Ontario Fire Marshal was on the scene Wednesday to begin investigating the circumstances of the blaze.

Some 900 students and staff at the school were displaced by the fire, which billowed thick black smoke into the neighbourhood. 

The Toronto District School Board cancelled classes at York Memorial Collegiate Institute and the nearby George Harvey College Institute on Wednesday. Staff from both schools were assigned to Oakwood Collegiate Institute for the day, and social workers will be on hand to assist any students and staff.

Later Wednesday, the Toronto District School Board announced that classes at George Harvey have been cancelled through the rest of the week to allow staff time to prepare for classes to resume on Monday. Students from York Memorial will attend classes there on an interim basis.

George Harvey will be open on Thursday and Friday for staff and students who may want to speak with a social worker.

John Malloy, director of education at the TDSB, said there will be a community meeting for parents sometime next week. In the meantime, the fire will not prevent students from graduating, Malloy told reporters.

"Our message is: we understand that it is traumatic for our students and our community and our staffs. We're going to do everything we can to support [them]," he said. "We'll work as quickly as we can, but we also have to be organized so that when students do return they will be supported properly."

Mark Harding, who has taught at York Memorial for nearly 32 years, said Wednesday that in some families, three generations have attended classes at the school.

"A lot of people would say, 'Well, in the end it's just a building.' Well, yes and no," he said. "Buildings resonate, as the cliché goes, with memories, but it also resonates with the personalities of those who have passed there before us."

When classes resume next week, he said, he will be focused on making sure his students are reassured that "this will pass."

"Nobody likes this kind of drastic and unimaginable change at this point in the year,"he said. "But it does offer an opportunity for us to show what kind of resilience and strength we have."

Fundraiser to save school

The first cornerstone of York Memorial Collegiate Institute was laid in May 1929.

The school was built to honour Canada's war dead, and includes several features to that end. Stained glass windows commemorating the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 and Battle of Ypres in 1915, a set of 11 steps leading to the front entrance — a representation of the 11th of November 1918, Armistice Day — and a mural by John Hall honouring those killed in the Second World War are among them. 

A long-time public servant in the York area and his son are starting a fundraiser to try and save parts of the school. Alan Tonks, a former MP for York South–Weston and mayor of the now-amalgamated city of York and his son, Chris Tonks, a TDSB trustee in York, are launching an online campaign to raise money for a possible restoration.

The pair detailed their initiative to reporters at Oakwood Collegiate Institute on Wednesday morning. They said they are dedicated to rebuilding York Memorial on the same site and also want to look into ways that its heritage elements could possibly be salvaged. 

"We're asking people to give in any which way that they can, no matter how small. All of the money raised will be used for the purposes of preserving York Memorial's heritage as we go forward, no matter which form it takes," said Chris Tonks. 

They admitted that the extent of the damages remains unknown, and it's not clear what will ultimately be possible. But there is value in trying, they said.

"It's just so many memories," Alan Tonks said.