Fire at Cherry St. recycling facility has been put out
(The Star Food)

The fire that erupted in a recycling facility in the Port Lands earlier this week has been put out, Toronto Fire Services said Sunday. District chief Stephen Powell said the command vehicle was pulled from the scene on 242 Cherry St. overnight Saturday after the Green For Life (GFL) building went up in flames early Thursday morning.The area is now under “fire watch,” which means officials are sifting through the debris to make sure no material is in danger of re-igniting. It’s more than a formality; several hot spots were found Saturday morning, so investigators say they are taking the risk for more seriously. The William Lyon Mackenzie fire boat, which played a huge role in stopping the spread of the blaze into a neighbouring facility used to store used mattresses, retired from the scene around 3 p.m. on Saturday. Its departure is the biggest sign that the worst is over. “We have our trucks operational and diverted waste and recycling to our other facilities in the GTA while we work with TPLC to determine next steps while coming up with an alternative plan for the damaged building,” said GFL CEO Patrick Dovigi.Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said the initial call “escalated through the alarm levels very quickly” and the building became “fully engulfed.” Exactly what was in the recyclable material that was ablaze was unknown, making the fire unpredictable. Pegg said he’d heard reports of people smelling the fire from as far away as Etobicoke. Investigators say fire originated in the area “where the recyclables were handled.”A GFL release reassured Torontonians who use their services that recycling would not be interrupted, and that “waste and recyclable materials normally delivered to Cherry Street will be diverted to other GFL facilities across the GTA.”With files from Fakiha Baig