The electrical system in the Parliament St. highrise where a devastating fire broke out last summer was old and outdated, and “incompatible” with Toronto Hydro’s system, a soon-to-be-released report by Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal will conclude.

The Aug. 21 six-alarm fire at 650 Parliament St. forced the evacuation of about 1,500 residents in the building’s two towers. As the one-year anniversary of the fire approaches, none of the residents can return as there is still repair work needed on the late 1960s-era building located in Toronto’s St. James Town area.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the property manager told reporters the building owners have spent between $50 million and $60 million on repairs to date, and estimates tenants may be able to move back in November.

Chris ter Stege, a fire investigator with the Fire Marshal’s office, told the Star he is set to release a report next week explaining the cause of the fire. He said it isn’t easy to say exactly where the fire started because the fire “propagated” or spread through the entire electrical system pretty much simultaneously.

“Every circuit heated up in the building,” ter Stege said, comparing the process to wires in a toaster starting to smoke when a piece of bread gets trapped inside.

He said there had been heavy rainfall shortly before the fire and water got into the building’s electrical room, which played a role in the fire.

In addition, the building’s decades-old electrical system is incompatible with new Ontario safety guidelines for electrical systems, ter Stege said.

In February, prompted by the 650 Parliament fire as well as electrical problems that were later discovered in two other St. James Town buildings belonging to the same property ownership group as the Parliament St. highrise, the City of Toronto announced the launch of an inspection blitz targeting electrical systems in highrise buildings — particularly those belonging to the Parliament St. ownership group.

During the announcement, Tory said the Parliament fire was related to a “catastrophic failure” of 650 Parliament’s electrical system. “The failure contributed to the fire,” Tory said at the time, adding “it’s a miracle no one was killed or injured.”

Ter Stege says owners of older highrises in the city, of which there are plenty, should update and regularly inspect the electrical systems in these buildings — although doing so is not required by provincial law.

Property records show 650 Parliament St., 280 and 260 Wellesley Sts. are owned by a variety of entities including Parwell Investments Inc. and Lilsam Inc.

News about the Fire Marshal report came the same day a spokesperson for Wellesley Parliament Square, the property management company that operates 650 Parliament, provided an update to the media on the repair work and a projected date tenants could start returning.

Danny Roth said about 65 per cent of the reconstruction work on the building is complete — between $50 million to $60 million worth — with 80 per cent of the electrical work finished.

In a separate statement to the Star, Roth said vertical electrical distribution for 650 Parliament was completely replaced in the building’s two towers — one north the other south.

“In the north tower there were extensive repairs required to the electrical system between the electrical closets and the suites; similar repairs, though less extensive, were also required in the south tower,” Roth added.

Roth told reporters during Wednesday’s briefing that the property owners have provided $13 million in tenant assistance to displaced residents of 650 Parliament.

There have been other costs, including $960,000 to run a response centre to address tenant questions, concerns and logistics; and $3.6 million to move and store tenants’ belongings so repair work in individual units can go forward.

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He cautioned the November move-in date could change due to “construction vagaries” and added that the 1,000-plus tenants who haven’t broken their leases and gone elsewhere since the fire can’t all be returned on the same day.

In an interview prior to Roth’s briefing, are city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam said tenants of the building have been “extremely resilient” considering what she described as the “absolutely harrowing” experience many of them have been through — including being relocated several times in the past year, from hotels in the city, to friends or family members’ residences, apartments and condos.

She blamed the property owners.

“A lack of maintenance is why the fire took place. It’s been years before anyone took a look at the electrical panels,” Wong-Tam said.

John Webb, 71, a retired typesetter, who has resided in his 11th-floor, two-bedroom unit at 650 Parliament for 27 years, including with his wife, Linda, until she passed away in 2016, was relocated several times, the latest to the Bathurst and Adelaide Sts. condo he’s been in for the past nine months.

He’s been told he’s being moved at the end of the month to 280 Wellesley.

“I have no choice except to go where I’m told,” Webb said, adding he is relieved to be going back to the neighbourhood where his friends are.

Because he uses a wheelchair to get around, he wasn’t able to retrieve his wife’s ashes during the three or four visits provided to tenants to grab important belongings, a few months after the fire.

“I have a sentimental reason for wanting the ashes. I’ve had horrible worries they will go missing,” he said.

The property managers have set up a new system for tenants to get their belongings, which will be stored on the property, outside of the units.