An interesting lunch-hour

[Rangerscott]

Send in your photos of when the wall fell.

I thought the flashy news intros where bad in my area. I bought had a photosensitive epileptic seizure.

[Papa_Complex]

Then:



Now:





Sorry for the quality of the shots.

[Papa_Complex]

At this point, they're assuming arson. It seems that they have video of someone entering the property, prior to the fire. Since the only police camera is likely blocked from seeing past the hoardings, the footage likely came from our cameras.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1860962/

[Papa_Complex]

So now, more than 2 years later, they've made an arrest in this arson case.


Yonge St. arson: Arrest made in major fire at Toronto heritage building

Kaleigh Rogers
Staff Reporter

Police say the arrest of a 53-year-old Toronto man in connection to a 2011 blaze that destroyed a Yonge St. heritage building will likely lead to more charges in relation to other fires around the city.

Stewart Poirier was brought into police custody Friday for failing to comply with probation and for allegedly threatening death to a resident at the Toronto Community Housing building where he was staying.

Police say an interview with Poirier and evidence from the investigation led to his arrest in connection with a fire in January of last year at 335 Yonge St. — a Toronto landmark that once housed the former Empress Hotel — as well as a fire on Thursday at a TCH building on Sackville St.

Poirier now faces nine charges, including arson and attempted murder. At the time of the arrest, he was serving probation after spending six months in jail for an arson conviction for a fire on Jarvis St. in February 2011.

Police say it’s likely further charges will be laid as they continue their investigation.

“We’re looking into a number of previous occurrences within our own division and certainly within the downtown city core,” Toronto police Insp. Gary Meissner said, adding the evidence currently indicates the acts were “deliberate and calculated.”

The 2011 six-alarm blaze froze Yonge St. traffic, brought 32 trucks and 125 firefighters to the scene, put three firefighters in hospital and completely destroyed the 123-year-old landmark building.

“(The fire) had a cascading effect . . . on the commerce, the tourism, the safety and well-being of individuals frequenting that area as well as on fire emergency services and other emergency personnel,” Meissner said, calling the charges a “significant arrest” for Toronto police.

Now merely an empty, fenced-off lot, 335 Yonge St.’s next-door neighbour HMV still bears the charred reminders of the blaze on its external wall.

Owners of the building and property, the family-owned Lalani Group, are still under investigation in relation to last year’s fire, according to police. The company did not respond to a request for an interview on Monday.

Part of the building, The Salad King — a popular haunt for nearby Ryerson University students — was destroyed in the fire and had to relocate to a second-floor location across Yonge St.

General manager and son of the owners, Alan Liu, said business has never quite been the same.

“Having lost that one year, there is a break in Ryerson students that know about Salad King. Some of them haven’t been told about us. We’re trying to recapture that market,” Liu said.

“It’s just kind of tragic. Every day at our restaurant we oversee the old location and it’s an empty lot.”

Poirier is set to appear in court on Thursday.

With files from Alexandra Bosanac

[Papa_Complex]

Well it's finally over with. They gave the guy who was charged in this, and a couple of other arsons a 10 year sentence.