Building collapses on top of adjacent structure in Toronto

A building under construction collapsed on top of another structure in Toronto, Canada.

The incident occurred on February 27, 2020. The causes of the collapse have not been identified yet but probably high winds that struck Toronto have contributed to the failure. Strong winds reached velocities of about 60km/h at the time of the failure. 

Experts from the Ontario Ministry of Labor and Toronto’s Building Department have been deployed to investigate the mechanism that triggered the structural failure.

The 2 adjacent buildings were located at Homeview Avenue. Two workers were inside the structure that was under construction but evacuated the building before its collapse as it started to lean towards the other house. According to Frank Martins, the health and safety consultant of the laborers, one of them heard a window crackling and decided to quickly evacuate the house.

When the Fire Department reached the spot, the houses were found on top of each other. “The workers got out, the neighbors started screaming … everybody got out of the house and then the one house collapsed on top of the other one,” Stephan Powell, Chief Information Officer at Toronto Fire Service, stated. 

According to neighbors, the owner of the adjacent residence was outdoors shoveling snow when the other house gave way. Fortunately, there were no injuries associated with the incident and all residents have been evacuated.

During the past days, the Ontario province was struck by intense snowfalls. Snow accumulation reached as high as 0.5 meters in some regions. Strong winds caused severe transportation problems including roadway damages and delays. On the same day, the roads near the area of the failure were close for more than 6 hours.

The collapsed building can not be repaired and will have to be demolished. The adjacent structure suffered roof damage that will be restored after the demolition.

Click the video below to watch footage from the scene.