On the morning of July 17, 2024, I was briefed by the Deputy Chief/Director of Toronto Fire Services (TFS), Jim Jessop, on catastrophic damage that 77 Howard Street in St. James Town incurred during the massive rainstorm that hit the City this week. The Deputy Chief, following discussions with the building owner and the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA), has appraised me about the damage to the building, and the prognosis is bad, potentially leaving residents without power for weeks -- potentially months.
As was conveyed to me, on July 16, a pipe burst on floor 11, which flooded into and damaged 77 Howard Street's electrical systems, causing a minor electrical fire. The resulting failure significantly damaged systems between floors 1 and 11. The result is that the building is and will be without power potentially for months. While an accurate tenant count has not yet been provided, the City is estimating there to be at least 800 residents that are currently without power in the building.
St. James Town has unfortunately endured similar electrical failures in the past. In 2018, a massive fire at 650 Parliament Street that left tenants out of their homes for more than a year, and flooding in 2019 at 260 Wellesley Street East left tenants without power for a week. The damage flooding has caused at 77 Howard Street is much more significant than what happened at 260 Wellesley Street East. The timeline for repair is currently estimated somewhere between "weeks" and "months," which still leaves many questions about if and how tenants can be accommodated during this period.
TFS is not issuing any orders under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act to remove persons from the building at this time. TFS is working with building management and at this time building management is following direction from TFS. TFS's authority extended to the fire and life safety systems within the building; should those be quickly repaired, they will not have grounds to order the building to be evacuated.
I am working with the Office of Emergency Management to organize a table to support residents, including staff from Toronto Public Health, Municipal Licenisng and Standards, Toronto District School Board and Parks, Forestry and Recreation. Some of the work I will be advocating for include:
- Setting up an office either on-site or in close proximity to provide information and assistance to 77 Howard Street residents while power remains off-line in the building;
- Working with the Toronto District School Board at the possibility of using space at Rose Avenue Junior Public School to assist 77 Howard Street tenants, including as a cooling space during warm weather. The Wellesley Community Centre is a City-run cooling centre that 77 Howard Street tenants can access should they require relief from the heat in the meantime; and
- Exploring options to temporarily allow tenants of 77 Howard Street to live off-site until power can be restored to the building. Recognizing that there are potentially 800+ tenants in the building, this will require significant work. However, I think it is important to minimize the length of time that 77 Howard Street tenants go without electricity and hot water; if repairs are ultimately measured within months, it is unacceptable to have residents stay within units that have neither.
Please stay tuned for more information, and visit this website for up to date information about the status of 77 Howard Street.
Text "77HOWARD" to (437) 292-4963 to receive SMS updates from my office.
