November 14, 2020
Mark Slapinski
TORONTO - 650 Parliament was the scene of another fire today, which began in a unit on the 10th floor. The fire started just after 9 am, with the fire alarm being activated shortly thereafter.
Fire crews responded and quickly doused the flames. One person was sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Nobody else was injured and there were no fatalities.
One resident - Ramon Alfonso - stated that the fire scared him, but he was “grateful [he] made it out alive.” He thanked Toronto Fire and the City for its help. Alfonso stated this fire reminded him of the fire that happened on August 21, 2018.
650 Parliament suffered an electrical fire, that rendered the whole building uninhabitable from August 21, 2018, to March 3, 2020. The tenants are currently engaged in a class action lawsuit against the landlords - said to be Sam Grosz and Abraham Bleeman.
While it is unclear who exactly owns the building, Phillip Heller and Abraham Bleeman are listed as Presidents of the corporations that own 650 Parliament (Parwell Investments and Bleeman Holdings respectively).
Residents were seen congregating outside the building today while the fire crews did their work. Once the fire crew started to pack up and leave, the residents that were outside the building made their way back in.
Residents like Ramon Alfonso were unnerverved, but happy it wasn’t worse.