Most service resumes at Pearson airport, but expect delays after fire causes U.S. flight cancellations Sunday night
(The Star Books)

Most service has been restored at Toronto Pearson Airport’s Terminal 1 after the Sunday night fire that wreaked havoc on the U.S. flight schedule and left many patrons stranded for hours.GTAA spokesperson Maria Ganogiannis said the fire broke out in the United States departures area of Terminal 1 and passengers were evacuated away from the area. All flights departing to the U.S. were cancelled on Sunday night but normal operations had resumed Monday morning with some delays.Pearson Airport is asking people travelling to the U.S. on Monday to contact their airline before departing for the airport. Travel to the airport was still being snarled Monday.Peel Paramedics said on Sunday that several travellers were being treated on site for minor injuries as a result of the fire. Paramedics later tweeted that a woman was taken to hospital in stable condition. A second woman was treated on scene.The fire was later extinguished but Peel Regional Police said there remained “a significant amount of water and smoke.”Air Canada announced that it would be offering a “flexible rebooking policy” for affected passengers.Const. Akhil Mooken said that clean up crews were working on clearing the smoked areas. He said Peel police would remain on site to help the airport with crowd control, given the high volume of travellers coming through for March Break.The cancellations followed a busy week at the airport, following the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, which came as a result of concerns over the safety of that model in wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash last Sunday.“As for compensation, we appreciate this was disruptive for our customers but this was caused by factors completely outside Air Canada’s control,” said Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick, who added that the fire occured in the duty-free area of Terminal 1.Numerous travellers on inbound flights were reportedly stuck on planes on the tarmac, in some cases for ...