A captain with Toronto Fire Services is in the intensive care unit at a downtown hospital after he and another firefighter fell off the roof of a vacant building while battling a three-alarm blaze earlier this morning.
The fire broke out at an abandoned home in the area of Jarvis and Shuter streets early Saturday morning.
Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop said the two firefighters were ventilating the building when they fell off of the roof.
Officials will be investigating the cause of a three-alarm blaze downtown that left two firefighters injured.
“They were up on the roof performing ventilation, trying to cut holes in the roof to release the hot gases and smoke, which is normal practice for any fire,” Jessop said.
“But there was a significant volume of smoke and the firefighters thought they were stepping off onto a ledge and unfortunately there was no ledge. They ended up falling down well over three storeys.”
Jessop said within minutes, the firefighters were transported by paramedics to the trauma centre at St. Michael’s Hospital.