By Hamutal Dotan • Photos by Christopher Drost and Dalton Sharp

WHERE: 295 George Street, near Dundas and Jarvis streets

WHEN: 7:15 p.m. (fire) and 5:30 a.m. (aftermath)

WHAT: A three alarm fire is blazing at this time at an abandoned house just east of downtown. Built in the 1850s, the brick house was likely first used as a rental property, until it was acquired in the 1880s by William Gooderham and turned over for charitable purposes, serving as a home for boys for several decades. (It also, at one point, was a slaughterhouse.) It has been derelict for several years, and is on the market as part of a larger parcel of land, consisting of a row of neighbouring houses. CityNews is reporting that fire services will let the building burn, and the TTC is diverting the 505 Dundas streetcar in both directions.

Update, 8:26 p.m.: TTC service has resumed.

Update, 10:30 a.m.: At about 5:30 a.m. we went back to the site of the fire, where emergency crews were still cleaning up. Surprisingly, the house looks more intact than we’d have expected, given the size of the fire. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

(First published October 19, 7:48 p.m.)