A Toronto landmark lies in smouldering ruins this morning following a six-alarm fire early Monday morning. The old Empress Hotel, latterly the Edison, on Yonge Street -- the world's longest main street -- was all but destroyed by the fire, and will have to be razed to the ground.
Oddly enough, the owners had purchased the 1888 building -- one of the few 19th-century buildings left in Toronto's downtown -- with exactly that intention. Their plans were thwarted by the city's heritage committee, which last year declared it a historic site, meaning that the facade, at least, could not be demolished. Oddly enough, part of the facade collapsed at just about that time.
The Ontario Fire Marshall is investigating. Since the building was securely boarded up, with no electricity or gas connections, the cause of the fire is a mystery. Since the owners are based in Mumbai, "Jewish lightning" is not suspected.
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