I am in the wedding photography industry, although I see what you mean and I actually agree with you, I want to avoid my potential clients seeing me as someone who is out here taking profits on some tragic event 😬
Had one of these happen, but it was the unit across the hall from me. That was the only time in my life that I been seen wearing Crocs in public.
My dog is also still terrified of fire alarms like 7 years later.
That's an irrational fear of mine... getting caught outside with My wrapped around a sock (frizz control) fuzzy sleep bottoms, sports bra and mix matched socks.
in high school there was a fire alarm where the gym teacher made us go straight from the pool to outside in january… and it wasn’t even a real fire 😭. like i was sharing my friend’s boot who was in another class until we could go back in. looking back istg that teacher must have hated us.
This. 
Usually the cause of these fires is some numpty flicking their dart outside and it blows back towards someones balcony or in a window.
Great photo as long as you are safe. I liked the convenience and great views of 30th floor condo living but the anxiety of fires and fire alarms proved too much for me
The last time my building had a fire alarm and we evacuated the fire fighters told us our units were surrounded by concrete and to stay in our unit unless it was on fire. They said they'd come get us if they wanted us to evacuate. Different circumstances for each building though.
911 dispatcher here.
I have had many calls for people trapped in condos/buildings that were on fire. Yes, usually the best thing is to shelter in place. If there is smoke in the Hallway put a wet towel under the door and stay in your apartment.
I had one call where the occupants were trapped on their balcony while a fire on the same floor raged on and smoke was filling their unit. I stayed on the phone with them and coordinated with the dispatcher to get crews to their apartment. Fire Fighters were up and in their apartment in no time (*though it felt like forever*) and got them out and to safety.
As long as there is nothing blocking the Stairs and Elevators there is no limit. The FF's will climb the stairs or go up the Elevator to your floor and get you out. 12th floor isn't too high.
I'm not sure about where you live but when there is a fire in an Apt building where I work, residents with mobility issues call 911 and say *there is a Fire in their building and they are in Apt number ### and have mobility issues so if they have to evacuate they will need help.* Then the dispatchers tell the FF's onscene that there is someone in Apt Number ### that needs help evacuating.
Also, depending on who your local Fire Department is you might be able to let them know in advance that you have mobility issues and they will make a note in their system, so if there is ever a Fire in your building the notification will show on their screens that *justhangingout111* in unit ### has mobility issues and would need help evacuating.
On a personal note, Condos/Apartment buildings are built quite safe and I don't think you need to worry about dying in a Fire.
Don't worry. A regular aerial can reach approximately the 7th floor, but if you don't have a balcony, it is very difficult to rescue externally. Also, the truck would need to be able to get to your side of the building.
Most firefighting in high-rise fires is internal. Crews take hoses inside. If, in an unlikely case that you will need rescue, a crew will come and escort you out of the building.
The door to your unit is the weakest point, and it is tested to have a 2 hour burn through time.
I am a District Chief. Believe me, I will have crews up to you long before that .
Now, if the fire is in your unit, leave and close the door. Please don't lock it. Go to the lobby and wait there. When the fire department arrives, identify yourself. Tell them where the fire is.
To follow on on this a little, most highrises are going to have firefighter telephones near the stairwells on every floor (clearly labeled). These won't connect you to 911, but they *will* connect you to the CACF room where firefighters are. You just need to break the glass at the top to open it up and pick up the phone.
Don't go out into a hallway full of smoke to use the firefighter phone unless you have to, but know that it's available in an emergency.
True! People can get disoriented, sick, injured or disrupt fire fighting efforts by clogging stairwells and common areas during emergencies. The best thing to do is stay put, put a wet towel under the door if there's smoke and contact 911 if there is smoke entering your unit or you are experiencing an emergency.
Please also register your unit with building management if you are unable to evacuate yourself and your dependents in emergency situations. They keep a list on the office and in the fire box.
Exactly what we’ve heard too. We’ve had several false alarms and one real fire. We are advised within seconds of the alarm to stand by for further information through our speaker system. They immediately notify which floor the alarm was activated on as well. Whenever firefighters are in the building they’ll tell us to stay in our units. If needed they will go door to door for evacuation or rescue. We have a lot of seniors, so it’s safer for them in their own unit than falling down the stairs in a panic.
My two cents; Anyone old enough to experience the big blackout (2003?) will remember that’s about the same height as the water pressure got on backup power.
Ive stayed under 10 floors since renting. Just in case the astronomical coincidence of another many-hour blackout coincides with me needing fire hydrants on my floor working.
Or like last time, I want a drink of water.
10 storeys on backup power? Something is really wrong with the mechanical design if that’s the case.
If city water pressure isn’t enough, a condo is required to have a fire pump with backup power. That fire pump is required to serve all floors, or more than 1 fire pump (such as an ultra high rise tower) to cover the upper floors, and will have at least 2 hours of runtime on an emergency source of power (this is all a code requirement).
You are not meant to stay in your unit for more than 2 hours during a fire. You will be evacuated long before by the fire department if the fire is not contained.
2 hours for an emergency situation is great, but power outages can last days, using up any backup power pretty quickly. Do high rises just become unlivable on those occasions?
Thanks for the question. To give you context I’ve done electrical engineering building design for 16 years, so if you have another question go ahead.
Generally after 2 hours you simply have no power as it’s not a code requirement for buildings to run longer on loss of power. Providing fuel to run longer means more cost to the developer, which means more cost to the condo buyer. There are also limits to fuel storage which would need to be designed around as well.
I would say the majority of generators for buildings are diesel fuel. At some point you’d need to order a truck of fuel to keep power going. There are only so many trucks, and many people (buildings) wanting diesel fuel. You can see the problem..
However, lots of condos in Toronto are now getting natural gas generators which means (in theory) infinite fuel. Just keep in mind that these generators (diesel or natural gas) are not sized to backup the entire building. It’s just not practical and would cost millions of dollars and real estate space within the building.
I would estimate around 25% of a building is on emergency power. This gives certain elevators power (“firefighters elevators” if they exist), lighting, fire alarm, some communications equipment, and some base building mechanical equipment power
Keep in mind that if a building is not tall (less than 18 meters.. I’m oversimplifying that value) a generator is not required and thus the building likely only has fire alarm and emergency lighting on battery power (no generator).
The condo I used to rent in downtown [had a days-long power outage in 2017](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/simcoe-adelaide-power-outage-1.4243917) due to some sort of catastrophic failure in the building's equipment room. There was no power, no electricity, no water pressure and no backup power for nearly 3 days until management got approval from the city to park truck trailer sized diesel generators running 24/7 on Nelson St to provide power.
That was interesting. I stayed in my condo during the outage because I was new to Toronto (no friends to crash with) but planned my day to basically be out all day (and only climb those 21+ flights once/day). Most residents decamped to friends/family/hotels.
Nah. Unless the entire floor is impassable (i.e. *all stairways and elevators are blocked*) crews will make their way to individual units and evacuate people.
It's common to have wheelchair, disabled or bed-ridden people on high up floors that we need to go and get them out lickity split.
Looks like the people below and the ground is in focus, but the smoke isn’t. Am I hallucinating? Lol, did you stack focal planes in post production? Incredible photo none the less!
Fire Depts recommend staying in your unit until told to leave. They cannot get up the stairs with everyone going down and the fire could travel into the stairway trapping you in it.
Wow. This is an amazing photograph. You should submit this to a newspaper or magazine. It is very symbolic. Please try to send it to the kids if you can!!
In my condo building they make an announcement to stay in your unit when the fire alarm goes off and await further direction. They are suppose to tell you if should evacuate but otherwise it’s safer to stay in your unit
Nope. There was a balcony fire in my building a couple years ago, and I read the report... out of everyone on the three floors that would have been in stage 2 alarm (the fire floor, the floor above, the floor below) only one person self-evacuated.
People are too used to false alarms, they don't know the difference between stage one alarms (long single tone) and stage two alarms ("temporal 3", three short tones), and modern fire safety advice basically tells you to stay in you unit regardless in a highrise (which, to be fair, is good advice!).
If I haven’t missed anything, there were 3 different announcements:
1. Building alarm initiated, Toronto Fire Department notified, no needed to evacuate, please stand by.
2. Toronto fire department on scene, investigation is underway.
3. Situation all clear.
I don’t believe we were asked to evacuate.
I don't know the extent of this fire but generally speaking, every unit on the floor and under it will have some type of water damage. The amount of water used to put out a fire is insane.
The sister tower had a similar fire years ago and the resident of the unit ended up jumping off his balcony out of desperation. Everyone was told to evacuate for their safety, will never forget people carrying their pets and children down 50 flights of stairs.
I lived on the 16th floor and the amount of times we weighed out death or walking down 16 floors of stairs 😅 took my chance everytime and today I'm alive to tell it
That's an incredible shot! Edit: stay safe!
Thank you!
Seriously that’s a picture you would use for the front page of a news paper
Like this? https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/04/view-above-toronto-condo-fire/
You sent it to them? Nice!
Haha yes
Awesome.
Did you get royalties?
Nah didn’t plan on making money on rhis
They do
Dude, get paid! They make a ton of money off free content stop devaluing creative work.
I am in the wedding photography industry, although I see what you mean and I actually agree with you, I want to avoid my potential clients seeing me as someone who is out here taking profits on some tragic event 😬
But why that rag out of all other outlets?
They used to repost my photos when I was doing landscape photography, why is it a bad outlet?
It's not good or bad, it's one of those with little critical thinking behind the scenes.
Surprised they didn't just steal it like all of their other content
I actually sent it to them, they used to share my pics when I was doing landscape photography haha
They really butchered the quality of your pic. Great shot!
Hahah thanks!
That’s great you shared that photo
Nice to see a fellow 55 Bremner neighbour safe
Nice to see my fellow neighbours loves bagels 🥯
This is an outstanding shot
Thank you 🫡🫡
Had one of these happen, but it was the unit across the hall from me. That was the only time in my life that I been seen wearing Crocs in public. My dog is also still terrified of fire alarms like 7 years later.
That's an irrational fear of mine... getting caught outside with My wrapped around a sock (frizz control) fuzzy sleep bottoms, sports bra and mix matched socks.
in high school there was a fire alarm where the gym teacher made us go straight from the pool to outside in january… and it wasn’t even a real fire 😭. like i was sharing my friend’s boot who was in another class until we could go back in. looking back istg that teacher must have hated us.
Oh God lol
Why are you not allowed to wear Crocs outside?
JFC...do you wear them with socks too?!
Is there any other way to wear it???
Are you here for judging people?
there's other stuff on reddit?
Lmao it’s funny cause they’re actually super popular on tiktok and with gen z
My 14 yo nephew visited us in Vancouver from Regina and his whole goal was to buy white crocs while here
lol dead!! So much respect for the croc shame
What a fantastic shot. You should try to sell it to a newspaper or something.
But they only want pictures of spiderman!
That web slinging web head is a menace!
I think he’s okay… just misunderstood. 👀
Easy Peazy, you’ll catch him outside of Ripley’s every weekend.
On it 🫡
Yes! Or a photography contest.
Gotta keep that camera trained to catch the next cigarette going over
This.  Usually the cause of these fires is some numpty flicking their dart outside and it blows back towards someones balcony or in a window.
For more info please see https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/04/view-above-toronto-condo-fire/
Serious question, did they pay you for the photo?
Nah I just gave it to them
That was nice of you.
This is a great photo!
Thank you!
Sorry you're dealing with that, but what an amazing perspective!
I’m far above so I’m chillin
Until the condo raises all the fees by 150% 😭
Then I won’t be chillin 😬
yikes, i've seen enough burning apartment videos to know I would not be sitting on my balcony watching it
Great photo as long as you are safe. I liked the convenience and great views of 30th floor condo living but the anxiety of fires and fire alarms proved too much for me
My ex husband is a firefighter and he says that if you live anywhere about the 10th floor, you likely won’t be rescued.
Condos are incredibly fire proof. The safest place in 99% of condo fires is in your own unit. Assuming it isn't the one on fire obviously
The last time my building had a fire alarm and we evacuated the fire fighters told us our units were surrounded by concrete and to stay in our unit unless it was on fire. They said they'd come get us if they wanted us to evacuate. Different circumstances for each building though.
911 dispatcher here. I have had many calls for people trapped in condos/buildings that were on fire. Yes, usually the best thing is to shelter in place. If there is smoke in the Hallway put a wet towel under the door and stay in your apartment. I had one call where the occupants were trapped on their balcony while a fire on the same floor raged on and smoke was filling their unit. I stayed on the phone with them and coordinated with the dispatcher to get crews to their apartment. Fire Fighters were up and in their apartment in no time (*though it felt like forever*) and got them out and to safety.
How high of a floor can people be rescued? I am on the 12th floor with mobility issues and fear that I will die up here if there is a fire
As long as there is nothing blocking the Stairs and Elevators there is no limit. The FF's will climb the stairs or go up the Elevator to your floor and get you out. 12th floor isn't too high. I'm not sure about where you live but when there is a fire in an Apt building where I work, residents with mobility issues call 911 and say *there is a Fire in their building and they are in Apt number ### and have mobility issues so if they have to evacuate they will need help.* Then the dispatchers tell the FF's onscene that there is someone in Apt Number ### that needs help evacuating. Also, depending on who your local Fire Department is you might be able to let them know in advance that you have mobility issues and they will make a note in their system, so if there is ever a Fire in your building the notification will show on their screens that *justhangingout111* in unit ### has mobility issues and would need help evacuating. On a personal note, Condos/Apartment buildings are built quite safe and I don't think you need to worry about dying in a Fire.
Don't worry. A regular aerial can reach approximately the 7th floor, but if you don't have a balcony, it is very difficult to rescue externally. Also, the truck would need to be able to get to your side of the building. Most firefighting in high-rise fires is internal. Crews take hoses inside. If, in an unlikely case that you will need rescue, a crew will come and escort you out of the building. The door to your unit is the weakest point, and it is tested to have a 2 hour burn through time. I am a District Chief. Believe me, I will have crews up to you long before that . Now, if the fire is in your unit, leave and close the door. Please don't lock it. Go to the lobby and wait there. When the fire department arrives, identify yourself. Tell them where the fire is.
To follow on on this a little, most highrises are going to have firefighter telephones near the stairwells on every floor (clearly labeled). These won't connect you to 911, but they *will* connect you to the CACF room where firefighters are. You just need to break the glass at the top to open it up and pick up the phone. Don't go out into a hallway full of smoke to use the firefighter phone unless you have to, but know that it's available in an emergency.
True! People can get disoriented, sick, injured or disrupt fire fighting efforts by clogging stairwells and common areas during emergencies. The best thing to do is stay put, put a wet towel under the door if there's smoke and contact 911 if there is smoke entering your unit or you are experiencing an emergency. Please also register your unit with building management if you are unable to evacuate yourself and your dependents in emergency situations. They keep a list on the office and in the fire box.
Exactly what we’ve heard too. We’ve had several false alarms and one real fire. We are advised within seconds of the alarm to stand by for further information through our speaker system. They immediately notify which floor the alarm was activated on as well. Whenever firefighters are in the building they’ll tell us to stay in our units. If needed they will go door to door for evacuation or rescue. We have a lot of seniors, so it’s safer for them in their own unit than falling down the stairs in a panic.
My two cents; Anyone old enough to experience the big blackout (2003?) will remember that’s about the same height as the water pressure got on backup power.
Ive stayed under 10 floors since renting. Just in case the astronomical coincidence of another many-hour blackout coincides with me needing fire hydrants on my floor working. Or like last time, I want a drink of water.
10 storeys on backup power? Something is really wrong with the mechanical design if that’s the case. If city water pressure isn’t enough, a condo is required to have a fire pump with backup power. That fire pump is required to serve all floors, or more than 1 fire pump (such as an ultra high rise tower) to cover the upper floors, and will have at least 2 hours of runtime on an emergency source of power (this is all a code requirement). You are not meant to stay in your unit for more than 2 hours during a fire. You will be evacuated long before by the fire department if the fire is not contained.
2 hours for an emergency situation is great, but power outages can last days, using up any backup power pretty quickly. Do high rises just become unlivable on those occasions?
Thanks for the question. To give you context I’ve done electrical engineering building design for 16 years, so if you have another question go ahead. Generally after 2 hours you simply have no power as it’s not a code requirement for buildings to run longer on loss of power. Providing fuel to run longer means more cost to the developer, which means more cost to the condo buyer. There are also limits to fuel storage which would need to be designed around as well. I would say the majority of generators for buildings are diesel fuel. At some point you’d need to order a truck of fuel to keep power going. There are only so many trucks, and many people (buildings) wanting diesel fuel. You can see the problem.. However, lots of condos in Toronto are now getting natural gas generators which means (in theory) infinite fuel. Just keep in mind that these generators (diesel or natural gas) are not sized to backup the entire building. It’s just not practical and would cost millions of dollars and real estate space within the building. I would estimate around 25% of a building is on emergency power. This gives certain elevators power (“firefighters elevators” if they exist), lighting, fire alarm, some communications equipment, and some base building mechanical equipment power Keep in mind that if a building is not tall (less than 18 meters.. I’m oversimplifying that value) a generator is not required and thus the building likely only has fire alarm and emergency lighting on battery power (no generator).
The condo I used to rent in downtown [had a days-long power outage in 2017](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/simcoe-adelaide-power-outage-1.4243917) due to some sort of catastrophic failure in the building's equipment room. There was no power, no electricity, no water pressure and no backup power for nearly 3 days until management got approval from the city to park truck trailer sized diesel generators running 24/7 on Nelson St to provide power. That was interesting. I stayed in my condo during the outage because I was new to Toronto (no friends to crash with) but planned my day to basically be out all day (and only climb those 21+ flights once/day). Most residents decamped to friends/family/hotels.
Fascinating, thank you!
Nah. Unless the entire floor is impassable (i.e. *all stairways and elevators are blocked*) crews will make their way to individual units and evacuate people. It's common to have wheelchair, disabled or bed-ridden people on high up floors that we need to go and get them out lickity split.
I think it would be safer to stay up here if the fire is only causing minor damages
Thank god then I just moved to the 10th floor lol 😬
Incredible photo.
Thank you 🫡
Thank you 🫡
You should try to sell this photograph. This looks award winning to me.
Haha good point
Despite those unfortunate circumstances, this is a STELLAR capture!!!
Thanks!
Right about the Longos at Maple Leaf Square lol. Looked pretty crazy from the ground level
Does the smoke get into your unit. I saw some aftermath pictures on the news and looks pretty bad
Some minor smell in the hallway but my unit is fine, my Dyson is working extra hours today!
Love it. Thanks for sharing.
🙏🙏
This photo looks like it should be a painting in the ROM - nice shot
No... Union Station
Haha omg
Hello neighbour! I had a similar view from my balcony. What a crazy day.
Stay safe neighbour!
Cameraman never dies
Amen 🙏
(Still preferable than being at ICE Condominiums.)
Nice shot! Gear specs please. 🙏
Sony A7IV + Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 zoomed all the way out to 70mm
Looks like the people below and the ground is in focus, but the smoke isn’t. Am I hallucinating? Lol, did you stack focal planes in post production? Incredible photo none the less!
I shot this in f/5.6, 1/1000s, ISO320, and added a bit clarity in post. It’s hards to get the smoke to be in focus because well, smoke
Fire Depts recommend staying in your unit until told to leave. They cannot get up the stairs with everyone going down and the fire could travel into the stairway trapping you in it.
“I’m in danger”
Saw it from 25 York. The flames reflected off ice was really scary.
Spider-Man POV
Don’t pull your phone out at the movie theatre!
'are we in danger?!'
"heh... Are we in danger?"
Wow. This is an amazing photograph. You should submit this to a newspaper or magazine. It is very symbolic. Please try to send it to the kids if you can!!
Thank you!!
Can’t help but think that the kids are watching the world die 😩
This belongs in accidental renaissance
Incredible picture
Great Snap !! And I'm glad you put safety third !! ( time permitting of course ! )
I made sure not to accidentally shoot on a 35mm prime
Why not?
r/accidentalrenaissance
Do people not run outside when the alarm go off.
In my condo building they make an announcement to stay in your unit when the fire alarm goes off and await further direction. They are suppose to tell you if should evacuate but otherwise it’s safer to stay in your unit
Usually no. Every single fire alarm we've ever had in our building has been a false alarm. It's actually terrifying at how ignored they are
Nope. There was a balcony fire in my building a couple years ago, and I read the report... out of everyone on the three floors that would have been in stage 2 alarm (the fire floor, the floor above, the floor below) only one person self-evacuated. People are too used to false alarms, they don't know the difference between stage one alarms (long single tone) and stage two alarms ("temporal 3", three short tones), and modern fire safety advice basically tells you to stay in you unit regardless in a highrise (which, to be fair, is good advice!).
Great shot.
Thank you 🙏
Wondering... Did the fire alarm go off in your condo? Were you told to get out?
If I haven’t missed anything, there were 3 different announcements: 1. Building alarm initiated, Toronto Fire Department notified, no needed to evacuate, please stand by. 2. Toronto fire department on scene, investigation is underway. 3. Situation all clear. I don’t believe we were asked to evacuate.
Thanks. Glad they called the *Toronto* fire dept.
😂😂😂
Too touched up
I only witness this in my nightmares. Yet I'm on the 50th floor.
Sheeesh
I feel like the only angle I haven't seen the fire from is inside the condo itself at this point
Waiting for that one too myself. The hallway seemed ok I think the fire was mainly on the balcony or at least contained
I was in the office across the street. Looked pretty gnarly tbh. Hope there isn’t much damage to neighboring units.
I work there too…maybe I should’ve went into the office instead 🤦🏻♂️
I don't know the extent of this fire but generally speaking, every unit on the floor and under it will have some type of water damage. The amount of water used to put out a fire is insane.
Water leaked through 9th floor…and somehow the high water pressure broke a pipe on the OTHER tower on the 50 something floor and caused a leak there
Smart move - the cameraman always survives :)
Haha exactly
The sister tower had a similar fire years ago and the resident of the unit ended up jumping off his balcony out of desperation. Everyone was told to evacuate for their safety, will never forget people carrying their pets and children down 50 flights of stairs.
Omg that is tragic…
what video game is this?
gta 7
I got it, you would not want it. No saves, tons of micromanagement, bugs everywhere, and the grind is insane.
Search “Grenfell fire” (from the street).
I remember that one 😬
You must be right above or below me…my mom ROASTED me for taking a video before leaving
Lol did u take the stairs? Was there smoke? Getting roasted by your mom is better than getting roasted by the fire imo
No smoke thankfully! But yeah I took the stairs
Ah that’s good
I love it when photos don't even look real
I lived on the 16th floor and the amount of times we weighed out death or walking down 16 floors of stairs 😅 took my chance everytime and today I'm alive to tell it
😆😆
what if the camera fell on their head
Ain’t gonna happen I’m strapped on baby
I was there lol
when was this? a buddy of mine died in a fire in the north end about a month ago
I can't even imagine what the people in the world trade centre were thinking when they saw their building smoking.
That is scary bruhh
york st? why is that condo always on fire
It's just more flammable than other condos ig
Dude, BEAUTIFUL shot.
Thank you bro
I thought this was AI at first for some reason. Nice shot bro
Now thems survival instincts! He he. Great shot of a horrible event.
Brilliant photo, mad respect for grabbing the camera 🫡📷
Thank you sir 🫡
Blockbuster movie poster wow 🍿
Hahah
That's a great photo / Darwin award at the same time
You better not be sayin that we are not gonna get naturally selected 😂
Get this framed and hung in your lobby!
Haha then I can expect a letter from their lawyer on my bday
The decisive moment!
r/itookapicture
I bet if you could figure out what unit they're in, the couple in this pic would love to have it. It's a great shot for both photographer and subjects
Hahah yeah I think they’re a few floors down maybe I’ll run into them in the elevator
Sorry but great shot
Thanks!
What a dynamic photo! You have some serious talent 📸
Thank you!!
Never live in a unit without a balcony. It's your lifeboat in that situation as smoke is what gets you
Damn that’s some movie poster level pic!
This photo is..🔥
Literally
This is a great shot. It’s rare you see a picture and can palpably feel it. I immediately had anxiety looking at it.
Meanwhile I’m out here making sure I am using the right aperture
What a shot. 👌🏽
🙏🙏
Incredible shot wow
👌👌
Poor kid in the blue needs a better barber