More than 100 employees are out of work after a much-loved family-owned bakery burned down in a stubborn fire that burnt for hours in the Kipling Ave. and Bloor St. W. area.

Del’s Pastry Ltd., at 334 Bering Ave., was co-founded by Benno Mattes, and his wife Edith, in the top floor of their Toronto home back in 1963.

Toronto firefighters rushed to the 60,000 square foot bakery on June 15 to fight a stubborn fire, which is believed to have started in one of their ovens around 9:47 p.m.

Fire crews said the five alarm blaze took about three hours to bring under control.

Firefighters had to retreat away from the walls of the building for fears they might collapse. Video of the scene shows thick flames and heavy smoke pouring from the ceiling of the unit.

Crews spent hours dousing the flames from aerial ladders to try to get the blaze under control, but the flames were being fanned by strong winds, Toronto Fire said.

Power has been cut to the building and the city was asked to boost the water supply to the area as crews work to contain the fire. Traffic was halted on some streets and a nearby train track.

Crews were able to knock down the flames by about 12:25 a.m. Wednesday and a fire investigator is at the scene trying to determine what sparked the blaze.

The company website said Del’s Pastry has been in business for almost 60 years, with a staff of about 150. The bakery generates more than $50 million in sales yearly.

“Our business has grown from a small bakery operated out of the ground floor of a two-story house to an increasingly modern and automated 60,000 square foot facility,” according to the site.

The bakery produced delicious cinnamon buns, danishes, muffins, picnic cakes and strudels.

Mattes was born in Germany in 1933 and immigrated to Canada with Edith in 1961. Together they began the small bakery and “grew it into a thriving business.”

He passed away at the age of 82.