North York Two-Alarm Fire Tears Through Home Under Construction, Displaces Five
Flames engulfed an unfinished house on Daleberry Place near York Mills and Bayview before spreading to two neighbouring homes. No injuries were reported.
A two-alarm fire tore through a home under construction in North York early Friday, spreading to two neighbouring houses and displacing five residents. No one was hurt, according to CityNews and CP24.
Toronto Fire Services crews were called to Daleberry Place, near York Mills Road and Bayview Avenue, at about 2 a.m. after reports of a house fire, CityNews reported. Toronto police said they were also called to the same area shortly after 2 a.m. When firefighters arrived, Division Commander Robert Hewson said heavy flames were engulfing the entire structure.
Unoccupied house under construction
The house where the fire started was under construction and unoccupied. Fire officials said the flames jumped to two neighbouring homes, forcing residents to evacuate. Five people were displaced — two from one house and three from another — an investigator told CP24. CityNews carried the same count of five people forced from the damaged homes.
CP24 described the origin property as a luxury home under construction. A neighbour told CityNews the house had been under construction since 2023 and was still far from finished. That neighbour said he heard a loud "thud" around 1:15 a.m., looked outside and saw the unfinished home fully engulfed. He said the fire then spread to his property, causing significant damage and leaving him and his wife unable to return home, CityNews reported.
Bulk of the blaze knocked down
"The bulk of the fire has been suppressed," Hewson told CityNews, adding that crews remained on scene Friday morning to extinguish hotspots and monitor the area. CP24 reported that by about 7:30 a.m. the bulk of the fire was knocked down and crews were still working hotspots. One lane was closed in both directions on York Mills Road near Daleberry Place, CP24 said, a reminder that the overnight blaze also snarled a busy stretch of North York traffic into the morning commute.
Cause under investigation
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Hewson said investigators had not yet determined how the blaze started. He declined to comment on neighbours' claims that security camera footage may have captured someone running from the area before the fire, saying authorities would be responsible for examining any such information, per CityNews.
Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators, CityNews reported. As of Friday morning's updates from CityNews and CP24, police and fire officials had not publicly confirmed a cause, named a suspect or reported any arrests tied to the blaze. Until investigators finish their work, residents and officials are left with a destroyed construction site, damaged neighbouring homes and an open question about how the fire began sometime before the first 2 a.m. calls.
Friday's fire comes as Toronto Fire Services has spent much of 2026 warning about other residential fire risks, including a record pace of lithium-ion battery fires citywide. Those battery-related fires are a separate hazard from Friday's North York scene, where officials have not linked the Daleberry Place blaze to batteries or any other specific ignition source while the investigation continues.
For now, five displaced residents and two damaged neighbouring homes mark the immediate human cost of the overnight blaze. Neighbours, police and fire investigators will keep working through what started on Daleberry Place in the hours before dawn.