If you're in the area of Victoria Park and Danforth right now, you might want to close your windows and not breathe.

680 News is reporting that there was an explosion and fire at an auto wrecker yard around 2pm and that a car burst into flames. I read elsewhere that it is a 2 alarm fire with crews on-scene. From my vantage point, however, it doesn't look as big as the huge plume of smoke suggests!

UPDATES:

3pm: The fire has been upgraded to a 5-alarm blaze. Evacuations of homes and businesses in the area are underway, the TTC is diverting route 20 and route 113 buses, and GO train service on the Lakeshore East line has been shut down.

11pm: The good news is that all transit is back to normal. The really bad news is that authorities are saying that the blaze may have been deliberately set.

Tonight is the last night to join the gawkers and photographers at the big multi-block film set for The Incredible Hulk. Filming is slated for 7am and goes all night. The set runs on Yonge Street from Dundas north to Gerrard.

The last 2 nights most of the action has been at the Gerrard end with little visible from Yonge. Tonight? You don't know until you show up. Visibility from the side streets has been basically non-existent, so I'd just skip them (unless you know a good spot to get onto a roof-top!).

Since most of the action is at Gerrard, that is also where you'll fine the photogoons. These crowd minders are outfitted with fully functioning umbrellas that they strategically deploy in-front of anything that looks like it might have some zoom capabilities. They can't tell you to stop, but they don't have to move. If this happens to you, no problem. Just leave the crowds at the barriers and walk a bit up Yonge Street. There isn't much traffic there, and you can just stand in the middle of the road and use your zoom to get the action. The blurry photo at the top was taken while dodging one of the more persistent ones.

And when you get home, upload them to the blogTO flickr pool and tag them blogTOIncredibleHulk.

Want to see some additional photos?

Monday night in Toronto saw a veritable who's who of the land development industry come together at the Palais Royale for the 2007 Toronto Urban Design Awards. Planners, builders, and architects! Oh My! The night began with opening remarks from Mayor David Miller, who emphasized that, all evidence to the contrary, Toronto's urban design industry is one of the strongest in North America. A casual observer in Toronto might have reason to be skeptical of this claim

Award categories were very diverse, and included "elements" (portions of a building or landscaping of particular merit), "Buildings in Context - Private: low-scale, mid-rise and tall", "Buildings in Context - Public", "Small Open Space", "Large Places or Neighbourhood Design", "Visions and Master Plans", and "Student Projects". In a change from last year, as evidenced by the category titles, emphasis was placed more on the interaction of the project within the context of its setting. The difference between urban design and architectural design. All told, twenty-four projects took home awards or honourable mentions.

The Jury was comprised of John Barber of the Globe and Mail, Calvin Brook of Brook McIlroy/Pace Architects, Renee Daoust of Daoust Lestage (Montreal), Eric Haldenby of the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, and David Leinster of The Planning Partnership.

Who were the winners? Keep reading to find out.

Saturday marked Toronto's 27th annual Take Back The Night protest and march. The Toronto Rape Crisis Centre hosted the event that went almost completely unnoticed in
local media.

It wasn't noticed on many "alternative" news sources either.

With so many students heading back to school, predators seem to be taking advantage on campuses across Ontario. Students at York and Carlton are reeling after some of their female students were attacked and raped recently.

Well, reeling may be a bit of an exaggeration. But they should be.

A recent Toronto Star article ends on a very low note, with two 18 year old, first year students stating: "We've become desensitized to it."

I cannot properly describe how angry and upset this makes me.

Maybe it's the fact that I'm a female student. Maybe it's the countless times I've been hassled by men after dark. Maybe I'm just bitter because many of the women I know roll their eyes when I make them use the term 'woman' instead of 'girl'.

I'd like to think of myself as someone who has a decent amount of 'street smarts'. I get my campus security to walk me to the subway when I work late, I avoid bad neighborhoods and parks after dark, and I never leave my drink unattended.

But since moving to Toronto two years ago, I've had a drink spiked and I've been jumped in a parking lot. I am not suggesting that Toronto is less safe for women than other cities in Canada, but I am shocked at how little anyone seems to care.

The MisShapes really do know how to throw a party! Last night they were in Toronto at Fly Night Club to celebrate the release of their eponymous coffee table book. I have to admit I usually don't do the pouty hipster thing, but with all the hype surrounding these supposed "most influential New Yorkers" I couldn't pass up the opportunity to check it out and see what all the fuss was about.

The planning behind this year's instalment of the Virgin Festival has involved more than just recruiting talent and figuring out if The Killers should play before Bjork on day 1 or The Smashing Pumpkins on day 2. The Virgin brand also wants to send a message that they are environmentally responsible and they are trying to be as green as possible.

This past week I sat down and spoke with the director of this year's festival. Based on some of the initiatives that they started at festivals in Vancouver and Baltimore earlier this year, the Toronto instalment of the festival is aiming to be carbon neutral. Some of the organizations they have partnered with include Zerofootprint, Flickoff, Global Inheritance, and Environmental Defence.

A top 10 list of initiatives can be found after the jump.