CYFS Deputy Fire Chief Paul Leslie, accompanied by Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees, update the media amid the smoke just after 3 p.m.
Roofers were undertaking restoration work at the time, combatting a series of leaks which had already been impacting the church.
The alarm was sounded with a call to 9-1-1 at approximately 10.25 a.m. with reports of a structural fire at the church. When the Central York Fire Services (CYFS), York Regional Police, and York Region EMS arrived on the scene, smoke was visible coming from the roof, but the fire soon began to rage.
“Our first crews arriving to set up made an aggressive attempt to knock the fire down,” said CYFS Deputy Chief Paul Leslie. “Our crews acted very diligently and acted quickly to try and suppress the fire, recognizing church fires are very difficult to fight once they get going. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a leg up on it.”
Business owners, area residents, and students on their lunch breaks gathered in alleys along Yonge Street, and lined Tyler Street and Temperance Street to watch the landmark, for some, their life-long place of worship, burn. Spectators were eventually moved off Tyler Street once it became engulfed in black smoke.
By the early afternoon, it was clear the fire crews were fighting a losing battle against the blaze.
“We had to pull our crews back as a result of deteriorating conditions with the fire. Eventually the fire worked its way through the roof,” said Leslie, noting they then had to deploy their aerial streams of water directly onto the church roof. “The nature and the types of these fires was such it was very difficult to get to the scene of the fire with the roof structure still in place. It is a conundrum because you can't get at it from inside and you can't get at it from the outside until the roof starts to give way. When the roof at the rear started to collapse, that exposed the rear side and we were able to put it out quickly.