fire toronto rudy

A beloved Toronto burger joint erupted in flames and could be closed for a while

One of Toronto's most beloved burger establishments went up in flames, alarm bells ringing around 10:30 a.m on Friday at the Rudy Burger location near Queen and Duncan.

The call was only rated a one-alarm fire and the building appears to be mostly intact. Still, the damage at 69 Duncan Street, one of five locations of the popular establishment, appears to be pretty extensive.

According to an employee of the restaurant, the fire broke out while fryer oil was being transferred, triggering the building's sprinkler system.

After failed attempts to control the flames with the kitchen's fire extinguisher, a 911 call was made.

Firefighters could be seen furiously swinging axes on the restaurant's roof as heavy smoke poured from the opening they were cutting.

While preferable to flames, firehoses also do a fair bit of damage to interiors, as seen in videos that show a wet slurry pouring out of Rudy's front entrance.

At 12:51 p.m., Toronto Fire Services reported that the blaze had been extinguished, a fairly quick resolution just over two hours after the 911 call came in.

Rudy's College location landed the top spot in our list of best burgers in Toronto, and its other locations — including Duncan Street — all rank high in the eyes of burger lovers.

Lead photo by

Caryma Sa'd


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