A police manhunt is underway to find a suspect accused of setting a Humber Bay Shores chicken restaurant on fire that demolished the eatery.

Officers from 22 Division said the suspect was reported to be on fire as he scampered from Mero’s Hot Chicken, on the ground floor of a condo at 2183 Lake Shore Blvd. W., near Marine Parade Drive.

Police said they responded to a one-alarm call on March 14 at 11:12 p.m. to fight a fire in the Lake Shore Blvd. W., and Park Lawn Road area.

The suspect is alleged to have illegally entered the business at 11:07 p.m. and soon after an explosion occurred and the business was engulfed by fire.

The man was seen dashing from the store and witnesses said he was on fire.

The explosion shattered large windows with glass ending up on the road. The powerful blast also damaged two adjoining stores.

Mero’s restaurant had been operating in the area for about two years and had been on sale for about four months.

Investigators believe there may have been witnesses who may have dashcam or video footage of the incident.

Investigators are asking any witnesses, or anyone with video of the offence, to contact police at 416-808-2200

Investigators are urging the suspect to seek immediate medical attention for their injuries, seek legal advice, and turn themselves in to 22 Division.

 

Added security systems are being installed to protect Toronto’s second largest water treatment plant following concerns from the community.

A major security upgrade has begun to tighten up systems at the Humber Waste Treatment Plan (HWWTP) , at 130 The Queensway.

An almost $4 million contract was awarded by the City in March 2024 to Black & McDonald Ltd., to  install and upgrade security cameras, closed circuit television services, security access control systems, safety or security systems as smart cards and security chains or accessories.

Also being installed are smart door locks, smart card readers, supporting equipment along with electrical, mechanical and civil infrastructure.

“The City is embarking on a project to upgrade the security system at the plant,” according to documents filed.

The plant was built in 1960 and is Toronto’s second-largest wastewater treatment plant. There are four in Toronto to process our waste water.

There has been concerns from the community about easy access to the plant, which treats millions of gallons of water for residents in Etobicoke, York and North York.

The sprawling facility is located at the mouth of the Humber River and serves more than 680,000 residents in the GTA.

Over the years the plant has undergone extensive upgrades to improve air quality and odour issues.

Are residents have repeatedly complained of the odour arising from the plant, which has about 60 employees.

”The Humber Waste Water Plant works to treat used water that residents and businesses deposit down the drains every day,” according to City information. “Flushing toilets, taking a shower and running a washing machine, for example, produces wastewater.”

The water travels through a sanitary sewer system, though a network of underground pipes, to treatment facilities. The sludge removed is piped to Ashridges Bay.

The scope of work for this project includes all engineering services related to preliminary design, detailed design, construction consultant services including construction site inspection and post-construction engineering services.

As of December 2022, there was 17 health and safety incidents, and 29 lost time days due to work related injuries.

Three odour complaints were received in 2022. All complaints were investigated and not attributed to any cause after the entire process was checked by operational staff in each case.

The plant is operated by Toronto Water, which is one of the largest municipal water, wastewater and storm water utilities in North America.

As part of Toronto’s large-scale Capital Improvements Program (CIP), the Humber Treatment Plant required upgrades to address aging infrastructure and buildings, optimize operational performance, and address community concerns.

There were concerns that the plant required security upgrades to stand the test of time.

The other Toronto treatment facilities includes the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, Island Water Treatment Plant the F.J.Horgan Water Treatment Plant and the R.L. Clark plant in Long Branch.

Many people are doing a double take as a massive Canadian flag that welcomed people to Humber Bay Shores has gone missing.

Some area residents are mystified and wondering what happened to their large flag that was for years installed on a tall flagpole at Marine Parade Drive, near the cycling trail.

The huge flag was an iconic greeter and landmark that welcomed thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists as they entered the area.

“It is gone,” one man lamented. “It was a huge Canadian flag that just went missing.”

Some residents are left asking if the lovely flag was blown away in a recent wind and rain storm.

“Residents are concerned,” another resident said. “We would like to see it back on the flagpole.”

It is believed the huge flag and pole was erected in 2015 to mark the 50^th anniversary of the Canadian flag.

Between 2005 and 2020 more than a dozen condos were built in the Humber Bay Shores area, ranging from 10 storeys to towers more than 60 storeys high.

The area, with a population of more than 30,000, has evolved from a small tourist motel strip to a large waterfront condo community, with an abundance of green space and views you can’t find in the City.

 

 

The Ontario Fire Marshal is investigating a blaze that destroyed a popular fried chicken restaurant that was up for sale at Humber Bay Shores.

Residents said it sounded like an explosion on March 14 around 11 p.m. that blew out the glass windows of Mero’s Hot Chicken on the ground floor of a condo building at 2183 Lake Shore Blvd. W., and Marine Parade Drive.

“It was a powerful blast and people were picking up shattered glass on Lake Shore Blvd.,” a nearby business owner said. “There appears to be structural damage inside the store from the explosion and fire.”

Shattered glass could be seen on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. Toronto Fire said there were reports of an explosion.

The restaurant had been opened for about two years and was quite busy at first, the business owner said.

He said the business had been up for sale for about four months, but there wasn’t that much interest from potential buyers.

The businessman said many of the condo owners in the area at this time of the year purchase their food using Uber or other food delivery services so they won’t have to leave their units.

There are no reports of injuries from the fire. Fire officials said the building sprinklers activated and prevented the spread of the fire. Crews were able to go in and extinguish the remaining fire.

Residents said a next door dental office, that was slated to open in days, was also damaged from the fire. Other businesses were also affected.

It is not known if the condo building underwent any structural damage.

Toronto Fire said it was a one-alarm fire, and there is no word on the estimated cost of damage.

There is no word on cause but the fire is being treated as suspicious.

Mero’s Chicken prided itself on its locally sourced chicken that was marinated from the night before and freshly cooked.

“We wake up early to hand-bread and fry our signature chicken,” according to its advertising.

GO Train commuters are being warned they will have to use TTC buses or other transportation as the Long Branch GO Station will be closed for four days due to construction.

The station will be closed from Friday March 22 to Monday March 25 as Metrolinx upgrades the rail network that will also shut Port Credit, Mimico and Exhibition GO Stations for ‘more frequent and fully accessible service.’

“This includes accessibility and amenity improvements to Toronto’s Long Branch GO Station located at 20 Brow Drive in Etobicoke,” according to a Metrolinx Construction Notice.

The company said Metrolinx’s GO Expansion program is delivering more GO service across the network, including trains every 15-minutes or better on the Lakeshore West Rail Corridor.

“To support GO Expansion, we are upgrading the rail network and our GO stations to enable more frequent and fully accessible service,” Metrolinx said.

It said during the Long Branch closure Track 3 will be realigned and the south-west platform will be widened. Access to the station from Edgeware Drive will be closed.

They said construction activities to realign the track will be continuous during day and night. Station parking will be closed and platforms will be inaccessible.

“Residents should expect some noise, vibration and dust,” the company said. “Our construction teams will take reasonable measures to minimize disturbances to residents.”

A range of heavy equipment will be used for the construction work and lights will be pointed away from residential windows, the company said, adding construction noise and vibration will be monitored and street sweeping will take place.

Residents can also expect an increase in deliveries to the worksite in advance of the construction activities.

Metrolinx said micro-piling will take place at the station at the beginning of March, which will entail 12 micro-piles being drilled, with a steel bar placed inside the hole and filled with concrete for the installation of temporary rail bridges to maintain rail service during construction.

It said from March 22 for three days the tracks will be aligned for the construction of new east platforms and the temporary rail bridges will be installed on April 15 and is slated to take two months. Most work will take place from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.

For more information contact 416-202-6911 or email TorontoWest@metrolinx.com.

Vocal South Etobicoke residents made the most calls to the City for service requests last year, according to a Toronto Customer Experience report.

Residents of Ward 3 Etobicoke Lakeshore made almost 30,000 calls for service to the City, according to a March 8 report from the Customer Experience Director to a Service Excellence Committee.

Toronto Rosedale was second with 25,596 calls for service and Toronto-Danforth was third with 25,428 calls, according to the Customer Service Division.

Etobicoke Centre was number eight with 22,735 calls and Etobicoke North placed 18^th with 15,333 calls for service.

So far in 2024 there has been more than 22,700 service requests made in Etobicoke Centre to 311, and the top requests last month were for pot holes, with 54; followed by 51 for garbage bin lid damaged; 43 to pick up dead wildlife; 38 for sewer line issues and 31 calls for injured wildlife.

There were 65 calls made to 311 relating to unsafe construction sites; 119 for untidy construction sites; 630 for leaking water hydrants; 663 for pollution spills; 661 for sewer odour; 308 for discoloured water and 1,064 for low water pressure, according to Toronto Water.

City officials said it takes from two to 10 days for City workers to respond to a call depending on the urgency.

Customer Service Representatives at 311 responded to some 848,000 general inquiries by phone, e-mail, twitter and other contacts last year, with property tax billing and vacant home tax being the most popular topics. Some 44,000 people made inquiries at the counters.

The Service Committee said 80 per cent of their phone calls were answered in 75 seconds.

It said there were spikes of 28,180 calls made during snowstorms, which were handled on an average of just over three minutes for each call. Another spike occurred during the 2023 mayor by-election in which 311 received 6,321 inquiries from residents asking about election jobs, voting cards or polling station locations.

“The Complaints & Compliments project aims to create a more customer-centric, consistent, and scalable complaints and compliments process for Toronto’s residents, businesses and visitors,” according to the report.

The 311 service is also looking at expanding support and intake for calls relating to bicycle safety concerns and operation and maintenance of parks and facilities within them.

They are also working with refugee support systems so people can donate or offer accommodations to newcomers. Last year 311 received 73 inquiries, which included offers of housing support and requests for information on ways to support or donate.

The service is working with Toronto Fire Services (TFS) for providing non-emergency information freeing up TFS workers for more pressing calls. Almost 10,000 calls were received last year for non-emergency fire-related information.

Work is also being taken to launch a Housing Data Hub to track the City’s progress towards approving 40,000 affordable rental homes by 2030.

The 311 service is involved in the Alcohol in Parks Project by handling general inquiries regarding park locations, guidelines and by-law enforcement.

The service provides information on Transportation Services and Traffic Systems Operation as it relates to transit signal codes, communication issues and timing requests.

The 311 operators provides residents, businesses and visitors with easy access to non-emergency City services, programs and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The service is integrated with five of the City’s divisions including Municipal Licensing and Standards, Toronto Water, Transportation Services, Solid Waste Management Services and Urban Forestry.

The City is spending more than $1 million to provide new beds so its firefighters can rest.

A contract has been issued to Waterloo Mattresses Ltd., to supply, deliver and install mattresses, box springs, heavy duty bed frames, stow-away beds and posture boards to the City’s 83 fire stations.

There are more than 3,200 firefighters on the job and most work long or varied shifts and often take a nap to refresh as they await calls for service.

The contract was awarded by a City Bid Award Panel and is good for one year and worth about $1,015 million. The contract can be extended for four one-year periods.

“The total potential contract award identified in this report is $1,014,052 including all applicable taxes and charges,” according to City documents.

Firefighters require a nap since Station A on Adelaide Street W., is the busiest in Canada due to its proximity to the heart of downtown Toronto and receives the most number of calls daily.

The station, which opened in 1971, at one time served as headquarters of the Toronto Fire Department until amalgamation in 1998. A pumper truck in Station 332 is the busiest fire truck in Canada, with 4,255 calls in 2014.

The service now receives more than 200,000 calls for service yearly and has more than 179 fire fighting vehicles.

Fire services in Toronto began in 1874 and consisted of volunteer fire companies. Before then fire services were composed of poorly trained volunteer companies in the city. The first company was created in 1826 and hook and ladder in 1831.

Most were able bodied men who were trained to operate pumps to draw water from the lake. A wooden pumper truck presented to Toronto by British America Assurance Company around 1837 is now at Black Creek Pioneer Village.

Waterloo Mattress LTD is a locally owned manufacturing company with over 30 years of experience in the sleep industry. Their product professionals combine healthcare knowledge and industry standards in its mattresses.

A plan to build a 22-storey condo on The West Mall has been rejected since the tower will be too close to the fight path used by aircraft flying in and out of Pearson Airport.

The building proposed for 710 The West Mall, just west of Highway 27, was nixed by the Etobicoke York Community Council for a number of reasons including being close to the busy airport.

An appeal with changes to the plan is underway.

“The site is subject to the Lester B. Pearson International Airport Zoning Regulations, which permit a maximum elevation of 219.46 metres above sea level,” according to a decision by community council.

The council said the proposed development site can accommodate a tall building; however, the proposed 11-storey (34.5 metre) base building is too tall.

“The scale and height of base buildings should fit harmoniously within the existing context and respect the scale of adjacent streets and open spaces.”

The building was planned to accommodate 147 one-bedroom, 105 two-bedroom, and 30 three-bedroom units, for a total of 282 dwelling units.

The proposed development has a total gross floor area of 21,641 square metres, resulting in a density of 3.5 times the lot area, based on a site area of 6,191 square metres.

The building’s developer is H&R Developments, architect Kirkor Architects Planners and Landscape architect STUDIO tla.

“The proposal does not have appropriate and supportable zoning standards, including, the proposed building height, base building height, and tower floorplates, according to council. “ The proposed development does not conform to the City’s Official Plan.”

The condo included 225 parking spaces for vehicles and 215 bicycle parking spots.

Pearson Airport on its website said any development, including buildings, cell towers, antennae, high light masts etc., close to the airport are affected to federal airport zoning regulations.

“Land use compatibility policies must be reviewed as part of municipal site plan review process or prior to starting any construction activities for those developments that are not subject to municipal site plan approval,” according to the website.

The airport is Canada’s largest and busiest with five runways and three passenger terminals as well as facilities for both airport staff and passengers that come through the airport. There are more than 1,300 daily arrivals and departures from the airport that provides service to more than 180 destinations across six continents.

As many as 130,000 passengers use the airport daily.

 

 

Motorists are being warned to be super vigilant as more children will be on the roadways with March break underway.

Toronto Police Traffic Services officers have launched an Early Spring Traffic Safety Campaign that will see them step up patrols from March 11 to 17 for March break.

“Children represent a large portion of our population and vulnerable road user group,” according to Toronto Police. “We must be mindful of the fact that there will likely be more school-age children on our roads and sidewalks during March break.”

Police said drivers have to be more careful with the start of daylight savings time as our clocks move forward on March 10, resulting in sunrise and sunset being an hour later.

With “the start of daylight savings time means that road users need to be more aware of their surroundings and ensure they are well rested,” police said.

Some 155 people were killed on Toronto roads from 2021 to 2023, according to traffic officers. Of those, 78 were pedestrians and four per cent of the victims were under the age of 18 years.

“Many of these pedestrian deaths occurred on wide arterial roads, signalized streets that carry high volumes of traffic, found in every Division,” officers said.

During this time traffic enforcement activities will focus on the “Big 4” driver collision-causing behaviours such as speeding, driving aggressively, driving while distracted, and driving while impaired.

Toronto’s Vision Zero Road Safety Plan acknowledges that collisions are inevitable but that killed and seriously, injured (KSI) collisions are preventable and unacceptable, police said.

Receivership proceedings have begun against Vandyk Properties leaving a number of major South Etobicoke developments in limbo, including a massive one at the Mimico GO Station.

A formal receivership order dated March 5 appointed msi Spergel Inc. as receiver over all “assets, undertakings, and properties” related to the Mississauga-based company, including a two-storey commercial property at 10 Neighbourhood Lane.

The Neighbourhood Lane property includes tenants as Stonegate Community Health Centre, Trilogy Physiotherapy West and an IDA Pharmacy.

Home Trust Company is alleging that Vandyk-Backyard Humberside Limited is in default of a $10 million loan, and requested the company be placed under receivership, which the court obliged.

Last November KingSett Mortgage Corporation and Dorr Capital Corporation requested that a receivership order be granted for five Vandyk developments: UPtowns and Heart Lake in Brampton, The Ravine and Lakeview DXE Club in Mississauga and Grand Central Mimico in Toronto.

At that time, KingSett and Dorr alleged that Vandyk owed more than $203 million related to those five projects.

As of late January eight sites connected to the Vandyk Group had been declared insolvent, according to The Globe and Mail.

Some of the developments on hold is a 20-storey condo at 327 Royal York Road that is in proximity to the Mimico GO Station and parking facilities.

That development was planned to house 190 residential units, 114 one-bedroom suites, and 76 two-bedroom layouts.

Also affected is a 39-storey tower at 23 Buckingham Street, near Royal York Road and Gardiner Expressway.

That condo was slated to accommodate 606 residential units, 48 one-bedrooms, 310 one-bedroom-plus-den, 115 two-bedroom, 70 two-bedroom-plus-den and 63 three-bedroom layouts.

Vandyk’s proposal had called for two high-rise buildings at 28 and 30 storeys and a mid-rise two-storey base.  The first floor of the base would have contained retail shops, with a grocery store on the second floor.

Vandyk Properties is a privately owned real estate development and investment management company with over 40 years of expertise in the North American real estate property sector.

The company and its investors once held a real estate portfolio representing $1 billion in completed value creation and $4.5 billion in owned assets under development.

The action has left Metrolinx scrambling to find another company to finish off development projects at the Mimico GO Station.