Queen St E & Greenwood

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Queen West has met its match

National Post

Saturday, October 27, 2007

A rush of caffeine is hitting the east end

Over the past year, Queen at Greenwood has really blossomed. With designer furniture and clothes, massage therapy, yoga, art and connoisseurs' movie rentals in just one block, it seemed things couldn't get any better. When the charming Red Rocket Coffee opened last April, it was the icing on the neighbourhood's cake.

Still, Greenwood was beginning to seem like an outpost, the last vestige of the laid-back chic in Leslieville. Whereas Leslieville has become a wonderland of artisanal eats and creative cooking, it all stops at Greenwood.

Enter Colleen Wong-Sala, whose organic, fair-trade truffles have been gaining a reputation for ethical yumminess at east-end farmers' markets. Lately, she's been renovating a cute vintage storefront at 1584 Queen East, west of Coxwell (picture Juliette Binoche in Chocolat). And on Wednesday, she unveiled Kakayo Chocolate Company.

"I don't mind being a trailblazer," says Wong-Sala. "I like the small-neighbourhood appeal -- and it is one of the last pockets in Toronto where there's a lot of sincerity."

Other trailblazers are also banking on the area, such as James For-tier, owner of i deal Coffee. This weekend, he's opening a new location, with a full roastery and a cafe, at 1560 Queen East, a block away from Kakayo. "It's going to be a little espresso bar; not too big, not too small, with a little baking, light lunches: We'll see which way the neighbourhood wants us to go."

Dr. Emily Howell, who opened her chiropractic practice at 1522 Queen East last June, is also excited. "There's so much opportunity here, because Leslieville is growing, and the Beaches is growing, and we're right in between," she says. She's one of several local business people who are already talking about creating a new BIA for the strip. So far they don't have a name, but they've been floating the possibility of "East Queen East."

 

[shilly]

Fire at Queen and Greenwood

Emily Mathieu
Toronto Star Reporter

Within moments yesterday, an east-end townhouse was the scene of triumphant escape and heartbreaking tragedy.

Daniela Ocaranza scrambled to safety with her 12-year-old son, crawling beneath a cloud of black smoke. Her sister – unable to breathe and trapped by rising flames – was forced to toss her 20-month-old daughter from a second-storey window to a quick-thinking neighbour below.

That neighbour, Werner Schmidt, was unable to rescue his wife, who was trapped inside the burning building with her wheelchair and felt saving the child was the only thing he could do.

"I said, `Throw the baby,' and I caught the baby because I knew I couldn't do anything for my wife," he told CTV.

Ocaranza said, "When I got out he was there and I asked him about Lulu and he said `it's too late, it's too late' and I could see the fire already burning."

"Lulu," or Louise Schmidt, as identified by friends and neighbours, died in a fire yesterday morning at a townhouse complex on Queen St. E. near Greenwood Ave. Firefighters were called to the scene at about 11:15 a.m. The ferocity of the three-alarm blaze caused the flames to shoot out the windows like a "blowtorch," fire crews said.

"The fire was rapidly growing when our crews arrived on scene," said Toronto Fire Chief William Stewart. "There was a female, 63 years of age, who was found on the balcony area, who had left the complex." Fire crews tried to save her, but she died at the scene, he said.

Five homes were affected by the fire, forcing 17 people to find shelter elsewhere.

A Toronto city bus offered temporary shelter until residents could arrange accommodations for the night. After the fire was put out, a distraught man staggered down a nearby street, leaning heavily on the people who led him away from the smouldering ruins of his parents' home.

"Oh God, that's Lulu's son," said Ocaranza, raising her hand to her face, her voice faltering. "That's Lulu's son."

Then she recalled the dramatic escape from her unit inside one of the townhouses. After smelling smoke, she and her sister looked outside their window and realized something was on fire.

She and her son escaped, crawling under the smoke, but her sister stayed inside to grab clothing for her 20-month-old daughter and was trapped.

Ocaranza's son Romero said: "My auntie was screaming `I can't get out, I can't breathe' ... My auntie was trying to have the baby hang from as low as possible, under the armpits, so Werner could catch her or at least grab her."

Moments after she tossed her child to Werner, neighbours put a ladder to the window so she could climb down. The mother and daughter were taken to Toronto East General Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Ocaranza said the rescue of her niece and sister came just in time. "Just almost immediately after that there was an explosion," said Ocaranza. Fire Captain Mike Strapko said fire crews found a ruptured oxygen tank and at least 10 other intact tanks throughout Lulu's unit.

"That is what the explosion would have been," said Strapko. A ruptured tank would result in the "blowtorch" flames shooting from the building, he said.

Neighbours said Schmidt relied on oxygen for health problems and was a heavy smoker. Werner told CTV: "The only thing I can think of, that she might have had a smoke."

Strapko said the cause of the fire has not been determined. Police and fire crews are expected to continue their investigations today.

Taken from Toronto Star.