Armadale Avenue residents Vicki and Martin Fox received a rude awakening early Saturday morning — 10-foot flames shooting from their Little Free Library.

“We woke up at 2:30 a.m. to someone knocking on our door,” said Vicki, who is pregnant. “It was a guy on his way home and he said, ‘Your library is on fire, you might want to put it out.’”

While Martin rushed out with a bucket of water and hose in hand to douse the flames alongside a few helpful neighbours, Vicki called 911 to report that the couple’s small wooden “take a book, return a book” exchange box had been set ablaze.

“(The library) was full of books and it really took off,” she said. “We were really worried because it’s right next to our shed, so the shed could have gone up, and it’s all connected to our house.”

Const. Craig Brister said Toronto Police received the call reporting the Bloor West Village fire, which happened on Armadale Avenue near the South Kingsway at 2:51 a.m.

While responding officers took one man into custody near the scene, Brister said his arrest was not related to the fire, which police are investigating as an arson.

Meanwhile, the Foxes, who received the Little Free Library as a Christmas gift last year from their parents, said they were saddened by its destruction, along with the 20 to 30 books that were torched along with it.

“It was great because it was full all the time, it was self-sufficient and people loved it in the neighbourhood,” Vicki said, noting that she and her husband just moved to Toronto from England in January.

“We were shocked because the neighbourhood is just so friendly and quiet and nothing ever happens here. So, we were a little sad but, you know, I guess these things happen sometimes.”

Brister said the police investigation is continuing.

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