Credit: aardvark (Torontoist Flickr Pool)

A piece of History Lost

Lauren Cossettini

Around 5 a.m. on February 20, 2008, residents of the Queen and Bathurst neighbourhood of Toronto awoke to a terrible sight. A massive fire was sweeping through the area between Bathurst and Portland on the south side of Queen Street West in Toronto’s downtown core. By day’s end, a number of shops, restaurants, and homes would be evacuated or destroyed, and Toronto would have lost a piece of its history.

At least 30 emergency vehicles and close to 150 firefighters fought to control the blaze which, in a matter of minutes, rose to the rare sixth alarm status. Along with the flames, firefighters battled the elements, as the cold morning air turned their water into an icy glaze, and the winds encouraged the fire to spread that much faster, destroying everything in its path. At times the intensity of the flames was so great, the crew working to put the inferno out could do nothing more than stand back and watch as it ravaged the face of Queen Street West.

Queen West has been a haven for artists, musicians, and fashion lovers for years, and the area was recently given historical status by the city. It is home to galleries, independent boutiques, cafes, and pretty much anything else you could want for a Saturday afternoon, evening, or late night escapade. In short, it’s where the cool kids go. Among the businesses lost were Duke’s, a bicycle shop passed down through generations for the past 94 years, and Preloved, a boutique that has made a name for itself by reworking vintage clothes.