Fire crews battled a four-alarm blaze that destroyed a historic church in Toronto on Sunday morning.
Dozens of firetrucks were dispatched to St. Anne’s Anglican Church on Gladstone Avenue near Dundas Street in the Little Portugal area at around 8 a.m. to battle the fire.
At 9:52 a.m., Toronto fire posted a tweet to X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that nearby buildings had been evacuated as safety precaution.
The fire service also asked people to avoid the area as fire crews are still working on the active fire.
“Main body of fire knocked down with crews extinguishing spot fires,” the tweet read.
TFS does not believe anyone is inside of the building.
According to the church’s website, it was built in 1907-08 in the Byzantine Revival style and was declared a historic site in 1996.
It says the church is home to a collection of artwork from a number of prominent Canadian artists including three members of the famed Group of Seven.
The three members of the Group of 7 — J.E.H. MacDonald, Fred Varley and Frank Carmichael — were part of a group that were commissioned to paint and decorate the church.
Bobby Diaz, who lives across the street from the church, told Global News that he woke up to a smoke-filled apartment on Sunday morning.
“At first I thought it was from the festival, but then the whole apartment was filled,” he said. “And then I stepped out to our main west facing window and saw the whole entire church starting to burn.”
Diaz said he visited the church last year and admired the artwork that had been done by prominent Canadian painters.
“To see such a beautiful building like this, it’s really heartbreaking to see it burn down,” he said.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.