6-alarm fires rare in Toronto

An inferno at a mattress factory in the west end on Thursday demanded a massive response — the highest level Toronto Fire Services will assign to a blaze.

For six-alarm fires, generally 25-29 emergency vehicles are used, according to the Toronto Fire Services website.

Thursday’s fire — at Foamco near Dufferin Road and Eglinton Avenue West — called for at least 40 trucks and 120 firefighters.

Toronto Fire Services said it determines the alarm level based a number of factors.

Initially a dispatcher may upgrade a fire based on the number of 911 calls received and details from the public.

The fire may also be upgraded once Toronto Fire arrives on the scene and sees smoke or talks to people there. Officials also consider the size and duration of the fire, the need to rotate crews due to extreme weather, the number and disabilities of people within the building or if specialized apparatus and crews are required.

Recent six-alarm fires

Feb. 20, 2008: Around 5 a.m., a fire starts in a store on Queen Street West near Bathurst and spreads to neighbouring units.

Thirty trucks and 150 firefighters are assigned to the blaze which, in the frigid weather, takes hours to extinguish.

Six historic storefronts are destroyed.

Aug. 10, 2008: Propane vapours ignite and cause a massive explosion as Parminder Saini, 25, carries out a risky truck-to-truck transfer at the Sunrise Propane plant in Downsview.

Saini, 25, is killed in the blast and firefighter Bob Leek, 55, dies of a heart attack.

The explosion forces some 12,500 residents from their homes and causes millions of dollars in property damage in the community.

Jan. 3, 2011: Arson destroys a heritage building at 335 Yonge St., close to the Ryerson University campus. About 125 firefighters and 32 trucks are involved in the operation.

Stewart Poirier, 53, is arrested in July 2012 and charged in connection with the blaze.

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