A massive fire that destroyed an abandoned historic building in downtown Toronto Monday morning may have started on the second or third floor.

Mike Ross, an investigator with the provincial Fire Marshal’s Office said that at this point they were looking into “everything” for a cause of the fire at the corner of Yonge and Gould Sts.

“We have not confirmed anything or eliminated anything,” said Ross at a news conference at noon Monday.

Hours after firefighters first responded to the blaze, hotspots were still burning in pockets of the remains of the building, which collapsed at 10 a.m.

As of 3 p.m., police were still blocking traffic on Yonge St. from Dundas to Gerrard Sts., and Gerrard St. from Church to Bay Sts. TTC service is running along all routes around the site except for the Yonge bus, which is being diverted.

Gould and Victoria Sts., and several side streets in the area have also been shut down, and cars are being turned around as far north as Carlton St.

Ryerson University has cancelled all classes and is closed for the day.

The fire, which started at 4:05 a.m. and was called in by someone on a cellphone, seems to have been isolated on the “2nd or 3rd floor,” according to Ross.

Ross added the investigation could take a couple of days or weeks as the site is currently “unsafe.”

“For us to safely investigate, the building has to be taken down.”

The Fire Marshal’s Office is trying to get equipment to the site as soon possible so they can start demolishing what’s left of the building.

Ross wasn’t sure when exactly that would be done

Thirty-two fire trucks were sent to the scene and 125 firefighters worked to get the fire under control.

“We’re going to be here for a while,” said Toronto Fire Captain Mike Strapko. “To drivers and pedestrians, stay away from the Yonge and Dundas area.”

Two firefighters were injured after falling five metres into the fire from the roof of the neighbouring HMV building, but two others managed to remove them from the fire safely.

Toronto Fire Chief Bill Stewart described it as a “very intense time,” and “very horrific” for the firefighters who had to perform the rescue. He said they could communicate with one of the firefighters by radio, but could not locate him for quite some time.

The firefighters who fell in sent maydays to others on the outside. It took 24 minutes from when the first mayday was sent before the first firefighter appeared. The second firefighter was hauled out about four minutes later.

The men, carrying 50 pounds of equipment, “hauled themselves out on a hose,” said Strapko.

“It was a life-threatening situation,” he added. “There were flames and smoke all around them.”

It was a traumatic event, but “this is the type of situation” that Toronto firefighters train for, Strapko said. “This was a case of excellent training and excellent teamwork. “Everybody did the right thing at the right time.”

It is still not known what caused the firefighters to fall in but the roof was said to be covered with ice.

Following the rescue, three firefighters were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, but a fourth refused to go and returned to battle the fire.

Stewart said all three have since been released from St. Michael’s. One suffered injuries to his lower back.

About a dozen firefighters were seen breathing with oxygen tanks at the scene. Large swaths of ice formed on the road as water continued to flow and small icicles could be seen hanging from firefighters’ visors.

Brandon Marsh was walking down Church St. around 4 a.m. when he smelled the smoke. “This is nuts. I’ve never see anything like this,” he said. “What a beautiful building to go to waste.”

Zack Sedore, a security guard at the Eaton Centre, said he saw a police car pull up to the AMC Theatres at Dundas and Yonge Sts. just after 4 a.m.

“Then, through our security video camera, I saw a significant amount of smoke coming out from behind the theatre,” Sedore said. “Within a few minutes, the whole building was engulfed in flames.”

Soon firefighters had arrived and “it was a pretty chaotic scene,” he said. “The firefighters were scrambling to get their ladders up. The fire started off small but got big very, very fast.”

Some night workers had to be evacuated from nearby buildings. They were housed in buses until they could re-enter the buildings and collect their belongings.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

A truck was set up at the corner of Yonge and Dundas to serve soup, Gatorade and coffee to firefighters.

The neighbouring Ryerson University and HMV buildings appeared to be spared from damage.

The heritage building was more than 100 years old and stood on the edge of the Ryerson campus. The same building partially collapsed back last April and had been abandoned since then.

Strapko said a wall and three-metre fence that was set up after last spring’s collapse made it harder to fight the fire today.

“It’s hugely disappointing,” said Ken Rutherford, a member of Downtown Yonge Board and owner of 340 Yonge St., the building that houses Foot Locker across the street from the charred remains of the heritage building.

“This building affects the retailers in the neighbourhood quite significantly because you’re creating blank spots in the downtown core and that’s never a good thing.”

Yonge St. had been reduced to two lanes at Gould St. since the collapse in April, impacting traffic and pedestrians. Ryerson is also building a student centre on the other side of Gould St. at Yonge St.

“It’s going to take years for these buildings to be completed and during that process it negatively affects retailers,” he said.

Rutherford said the burned building was built in 1888.

“It’s probably one of the oldest properties in this area,” he said. “I believe strongly in having the face of your downtown core with character properties, so to have one major one, one prominent one disappear, it's not good for the city.”

The old Empress Hotel building had more recently housed the well-known Salad King restaurant, a popular hang-out for students.

It was owned by the Lalani Group and was being leased by six tenants.

“I can’t tell you how dismayed I am,” said Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. “Yonge St. is the face of Toronto, and now it’s scarred.”

Wong-Tam said that she had tried several times to contact the building’s owners, hoping to figure out a way they could move forward with the building’s restoration.

She said a meeting has been planned for Jan. 10 with structural engineers to nail down a definitive timeline for restoring the building.

However, after speaking to Stewart, Wong-Tam said she no longer believes the building can be saved.

Wong-Tam said she knew that the building’s gas and electricity had been shut off prior to this morning’s fire.

With files from Jayme Poisson, Curt Rush, Chloe Fedio and Valerie Hauch.