Four Alarm Fire in Toronto

A huge 4+ alarm fire in Toronto overnight has destroyed two commercial building on Danforth at Main St and caused area residents to be evacuated. The fire started in an automotive shop with flames already through the roof on arrival. Within 15 minutes the fire has spread to a second commercial building to the south and nearby Stephenson Ave was evacuated. Police went door to door asking people to leave as soon as they could. Firefighters hosed down a nearby apartment building fearing it would also catch fire.

Toronto Homicide

One man is dead, another shot and in hospital, after an early morning shooting in Yorkville. The dead man may have been visiting for Carabana from the Montreal area. Police are on the scene this morning investigating and questioning witnesses.
Police had a massive presence in the downtown area overnight due to Carabana Weekend. They say although officers were on scene in minutes they just can't be everywhere.

Sunrise at the Lake.

Drivers on Wellington at Church got a lakeside drive this morning. A water main break flooded Wellington and some of Front St. Also the bar on the corner ... which is downstairs .... I think it's called the Firkin House ..... Yeah ... Not such a good day for them.

What do we do on a quiet rainy night?

Covering the nightshift can be a lonely thankless business on cold winter or rainy summer nights. Usually at some point in the evening you can meet one of the other guys and sit window to window for a chat and a coffee, but on rainy nights you can’t open your window without getting soaked. Rainy nights can also be very quiet as people tend to stay home.

Last night was miserable and it rained hard all night. Tom (CP24), Jeremy (Global TV) and I turned a closed for the night gas station into our living room for a little while. Jorge, a freelancer from CTV, stopped by for a chat. A little later we found an empty Tim Horton’s on Caledonia Rd. A good laugh was had by all.

 

 

 

What's Wrong With America?

We know that a lot of guns in Canada come from the U.S.A. I thought I had seen and heard it all until I saw this Car Dealer giving away AK-47's with the purchase of a truck. Buy a truck and get a free gun. I wonder if he would feel the same way had a family member been the victim of gun violence?

Jeremy Cohn actually shot this cool shot of a police car in an accident. The cop had a broken leg. It happened at Rutherford and Weston Rd.

I hate rats!

Want to see rats? Just wait until about 3am when it's nice and quiet and everyone has gone home. Stand quietly in a back alley downtown and wait. You will not wait long. I was so quiet I actually had to make noise to scare the jumbo sized raccoon that didn't see me and was waddling my way.

This is a cool video

Obviously not my video and I don't drink this brand of water but I love this video.

Breakfast Buffet

Breakfast Buffet

I was in Toronto's Chinatown this morning at about 6am when I came
across a large family of raccoons enjoying an all you can eat buffet.
I shot some video and they didn't seem to mind, so I got out my still
camera and grabbed a few shots.

Sometimes Life Isn't Fair

After a great weekend in which I spent Saturday with my family, Sunday was my day to chill. I drove my wife to work and went grocery shopping with my 14 year old daughter. Have you ever noticed how the groceries always cost more when you take your kid to the grocery store? I picked up two newspapers The Sun and The Star, and headed home to enjoy a good read.

Michelle Mandel presented a great story on the front page of The Sun. It took me a minute to clue in but then the story took me back 18 years. I remember it like yesterday. We were standing on the street outside a small apartment building in Parkdale. A little girl was missing. Everyone hoped she would be found any minute but that wouldn’t happen. Three year old Kayla Klaudusz would eventually be found dead in the harbour and to everyone’s shock a neighbour would be arrested for the murder. This left me stunned. It meant that while I stood outside on the sidewalk the young girl was probably just steps away. As a young freelance television cameraman, with the help of a reporter from The Star, I had gone into the family home. We went into Kayla’s bedroom. I remember her stuffed toys, her frantic mother. This story would change me forever. I wondered if the little angel had been alive when we were there. Even today it hurts my heart to think back to that time.

Through Michelle Mandel’s well written piece I now find out that Kayla’s parents eventually split up, that her dad is now struggling to make ends meet and take care of his family. It just shouldn’t be this way. I can understand why Steve Klaudusz feels bitter. It isn’t right that the killer is now looked after by the taxpayers. That the killer gets free dental and drug benefits while Steve cannot afford to take his kids to the dentist. It’s just not right.

I wish I could help. If I owned my own company and was looking for help I would step up and give the guy a break. It sounds like he needs a helping hand. As a society we should be able to help those who deserve it, those who have already went through enough in life. Sometimes life just isn’t fair.

Also, in the last few months as the newspaper industry seems to crumble before my eyes, I have to wonder what will happen to our newspaper journalists. Every day we hear how papers are dying and that they are a thing of the past. I hope this is not true. Newspapers still inform me in a way that television news falls short. The depth of coverage allowed in print is something to be cherished. I am constantly reading excellent well researched local stories that obviously take a lot of time to put together. Hopefully the hunt for corporate profit will not lead to the demise of local newspapers. I’ve already seen that happen in television. I was laid off in Windsor when one of the local television stations was gutted. I have landed on my feet back here in Toronto with the CBC but many of my colleagues have not been so lucky.

I’m 21 years into my career in television. I still love chasing breaking news and shooting video as it unfolds. I turned 44 this year. Do the clocks move faster the older you get?

Mississauga Fire

Collage from Burnamthorpe Fire

Huge Mississauga Blaze.

Pics from Mississauga Fire on Burnamthorpe Rd at Pony Trail Dr. Huge
fire destroys a town house complex.

Crazy Busy in the GTA

It was nothing short of a crazy shift last night. I started early for a shooting aboard a streetcar at the Main St. TTC Station and really never stopped for the rest of the night. I went to get some shots and a few clips as a locomotive was moved through the streets of Toronto to a new home at the Roundhouse. Cops who were directing traffic told us they had a rollover on the Gardiner Expressway. I got some shots and on a quiet night this may have made the show but not last night.

 We had a three year old boy wander out of his house in Mississauga only to be hit by a truck on Britannia. The crazy thing is the driver never stopped. Luckily some witnesses caught him for police. The boy was airlifted to Sick Kids and he will survive. Peel Police have charged the driver.

I couldn’t help but notice all those ETF trucks pass me on the way home. After a little investigation I figured out that they were off to wake up some bad guys. I tagged along into the Malton area and watched as they ordered out residents of a house at gun point. I felt sorry for the upstairs tenants, who seemed to get caught up in the action, but they got their targets and I hear that they actually did two locations. Seems the pinch was for “a bunch of armed robberies” so good for you guys. A few less bandits on our streets.

When is a shooting not a shooting?

When is a shooting not a shooting? When is a homicide not a homicide? The answer is when it happens in Peel Region. I can’t for the life of me understand how information flows in this police force, other to say that it flows very slowly. Last night I responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Shipp Dr. near Square One Mall. I got on scene to find a massive display of yellow tape surrounding a condominium and blocking a large portion of the street. You can always count on Peel to spare nothing when it comes to yellow tape. Just for a laugh I would love to compare the budget for crime tape between Peel and other jurisdictions. The displays and designs they come up with are almost art. It’s not yellow ribbon guys its crime scene tape.

Here is another thing you can always count on in Mississauga and Brampton. When the media shows up the fact that they are on scene will always be broadcast over the police radio system. I don’t know if constables get a prize for being the fist to spot the cameras but you will always hear “Media on Scene!” as soon as you pull your camera from its bag. I fail to understand why this is pertinent information that needs to be shared with all 30 officers on scene. Do they change behavior at this point or is it just a signal for everyone to get ready for the close-up?

A Sergeant came over to talk to me. He informed me that the scene was expanding and that I would need to move back further. They were putting up more yellow tape. Three officers were already pulling large rolls of the stuff from the trunks of cruisers. I asked him if he had any information he could share. He told me that he didn’t and that the Duty Inspector, who was also on scene, was far too busy to talk. I was told to call Media Relations who were eagerly awaiting my call. Some six hours after the shooting, which actually was a homicide, Media Relations was still calling it a “disturbance” and not even confirming that a shooting had taken place. OPP and Metro Police were already broadcasting descriptions of two vehicles wanted in a Peel Region shooting but Peel had not even confirmed to the media and by default to the citizens of Mississauga, that a shooting had even taken place.

This reminds me of the Iraq Government Spokesperson better known as Baghdad Bob claiming that there were no American tanks in Baghdad.

Kleinberg Farm House Fire

I went to a farm house fire up in Kleinberg the other night. I've been up in this area of Vaughan a few times for these late night fires, usually at vacant farm houses or barns. The lack of hydrants in the area makes firefighters work harder to bring them under control quickly. As you can see this one burned to the ground in no time.

Save Local TV

The media machine is moving at top speed today. CTV has turned an annual open house into a soap box for “fee for carriage”. I’m watching Newsnet and they have orchestrated live hits from across the country at CTV stations. Round up all the local politicians and charities to tell everyone how important local television really is. I can’t help but think that this has more to do with corporate profit that local TV.

A few years back these media giants were buying anything they could get their hands on. It was all about being big and powerful. Now that the economy has fallen apart they need our help to save local TV. Well actually they just need more of our money. While I’m not opposed to spending more on Canadian TV, I don’t want to give them more so they can just spend it on US programming. Let them guarantee it will be used to produce content right here at home. That will mean more jobs in the industry and more local news.

Today as CTV uses its outlets to get its message out, Shaw is also running full page ads in all the daily newspapers. The cables companies don’t want to pay any more money for content. It’s really all about profit and loss and Canadians are just pawns in the game. I will gladly pay $20 more a month for TV but let’s make more TV right here at home.

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1621058

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2009/05/22/rogers-ctv.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i15f4e2b3b4a487b3e9e94414fdf9558a

Sunrise in Etobicoke

 
I was out on Friday morning shooting some still shots of the nice sunrise. No better way to kill the last half hour of your shift before the long weekend. I had a portable scanner so I didn't miss any action and took this shot out at Royal York and Lakeshore in Etobicoke.

Coordinated Attack Across City in ATM Fraud

It was just after 6am and close to the end of my shift. Friday before the long weekend is always nice right? Just another hour to go and I’m done. Then these calls start coming in  all over the city. They are being called in by TD Bank Security Department. They are reporting multiple frauds taking place at ATM’s across the city. They obviously caught on to this large scale coordinated attack. Police fan out across the divisions and arrest at least six people, actually in the act of making multiple withdrawals from bank machines. I drive over to one location at Weston Rd and Finch Ave West and grabbed some video of two suspects in custody. Then I headed out to another location in Scarborough. Three males were being questioned there. Police think they actually interrupted this location before the dead was done. I stopped at two other locations were people had been caught.  

I also stopped for bagels on my way home. My card is not working. I get home after working on the story, only to find that I have been victim to the same bandits. They took $200 then $200 then $100 all at 6am this morning.

They steal legitimate PIN pads at various locations. They tamper with them and set them up to record all transaction card numbers and pins. Then they go to a friend or someone they know needs some cash and maybe works at some nice busy place. They switch the pads. Weeks later they retrieve the pin pads full of skimmed card info and pins. They put back the old ones. Then the gang gets any card they can find that has a magnetic strip. A good source is those racks of gift cards at checkout counters and gas stations. They imprint the ATM card info onto the fake plastic. The bank machine doesn’t know the difference as it just reads the stripe.

This has been going on for years. Now the gangs are getting organized. They know that a few single transactions at an ATM will cancel the cards and give police time to look at bank video. So they get people to withdraw the money all at the same time at multiple locations across a city or even a country. By the time the red flags go up the damage is done. Good for TD Security staff for making the call to police and helping police catch a few suspects. Obviously, other banks have been hit too. I’m with PC Financial, which is actually CIBC, and I have been hit twice this year.

I have to stop using my bank card on my overnight shift. It has to be part of the problem. I’m starting to think that Cash is indeed King. I think if we knew the extent of the problem we would all stop using ATM cards. The banks don’t share too much info on fraud. It makes them look bad and is just part of the cost of doing business, much like a retail store and shoplifting. Relief may come as banks introduce new cards with smart chips embedded into them. These are much harder to copy, although not impossible. Satellite TV companies found that out the hard way.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/fbi-uncovers-nine-million-dollar-atm-scam_100151044.html

http://srilankainfocus.blogspot.com/2008/01/scam-may-have-link-to-tamil-tigers-cops.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2007/10/16/2007-10-16_sri_lankan_terror_gang_busted_in_atm_hei-2.html

http://www.prlog.org/10214957-european-atm-fraud-attacks-up-149-says-east-report.html

Pandemic Alert

Last night when I went to bed Newsworld was reporting 60 deaths in Mexico due to swine flu. This morning I find that number has already increased to 81. A quick scan of Google news headlines revealed that governments around the world are on high alert and this thing is spreading rapidly. We now have suspected cases in New Zealand, France, Israel and America. Video from Asia this morning shows people being video taped and checked as they arrive off planes at the airport. President Obama was just in Mexico the other day. He was given a tour of a Mexico City museum by Felipe Solis who dies the next day with flu like symptoms.

The Philippines is the latest country to implement thermal screening, using special cameras to spot travelers that have a fever as they emerge from aircraft at airports. They are also asking citizens not to shake hands, to keep their mouths covered and not to kiss each other on the cheeks as a greeting. Mexico says 1,324 patients with flu symptoms are also under observation. There have been 11 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States - in New York City, California and Kansas.

So far Canada has no reported cases. I must admit that all this news really has my head spinning. The big question being how bad will this outbreak get?

Sad Story In Scarborough

 

Two women have died in a house fire early Thursday morning in Toronto's east end.

The fire appears to have started in the basement of the house, where the body of one victim was found, according to Toronto fire Chief Bill Stewart.

The other woman was rushed to hospital but later pronounced dead.

The fire happened in a house on Wantanopa Crescent, near Markham Road and Lawrence Avenue East.

Neighbours said two people lived in the home — a woman in her 80s and her daughter in her 50s.

Stewart said the first person to arrive on the scene was an off-duty firefighter.

"He reported to crews that the flames were fully visible coming out of the front of the building and out of the basement area," said Stewart.

"The crews leaving the [fire] station could see heavy smoke as they were approaching the call this morning," he added.

Stewart said the cause of the fire has not been determined.

The Ontario fire marshal's office is investigating.

Guns and Gangs

One in custody and one sawed off shotgun off the streets. G+G always gets its man .. Or on this case boy. He was a YO.

Book "Em Danno!

Last night was was a great night. Just after 5am about 1000 police officers fanned out across the GTA and made early morning wake up calls at 100 doors. While some may question how many of these people will actually be found guilty, some forty guns are now off the street. In my mind that is a huge victory for police and the public.

Here is a little of the News Release.

Project Fusion began in mid-2008, and focused on a series of violent crimes  dating back to 2003.  It is alleged that those involved in this investigation are leaders, members and/or associates who participate in two criminal organizations that operate in concert with each other, known as the “MNE” (Markham Road/Eglinton Avenue East), and the "400 Crew" (400/McCowan Road).   They're located in the southeast area of Toronto however their criminal activities are not limited to this area but cross into Durham Region and throughout the GTA.   

The focus of this investigation was not only the alleged criminal organizations MNE and 400 Crew, but the people alleged to be responsible for the supply of firearms and illegal drugs to these criminal organizations.  


A total of 100 homes and 61 vehicles were the targets of the search warrants.


The following were alleged to have been seized during the investigation:

-  34 handguns,
-  two AK-47 rifles
-  a Cobra 11 machine pistol
-  two rifles
-  a sawed-off shotgun
-  a Taser
-  759 rounds of ammunition
-   four bulletproof vests
-  42.75 pounds of cocaine, with a street value of $1,940,000
-  64.7 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $588,000
-  30,000 tabs of ecstasy with a street value of $750,000
-  41 grams of Oxycotin, with a street value of $1,700
-  344 grams of Crack, with a street value of $34,400
-   $431,340 cash,
-   12 motor vehicles.

What Happens When?

Is your life totally predetermined where each turn you take, each decision you make, leads you to exactly where you are right now, exactly where you are supposed to be? Or is your journey a series of totally random twists and turns, where a left turn can change your life forever, where a thought to stop for coffee can make a huge difference in the end game? This is the question that is posed in the new Nicholas Cage movie “Knowing” and I have to share how going to see that movie yesterday would lead to a very strange series of events playing out in my life.

I work nights and typically sleep most days. Yesterday I went to sleep much earlier than usual when I got home. A contractor knocked on my door a few hours later. Totally unannounced he had come by to see if he could fix a warranty problem in our new home. I got up earlier than usual. My wife was supposed to work on Friday but had taken the day off to visit the doctor. My daughter called from school in the late afternoon to say she was coming home early because she wasn’t feeling well. So we all ended up free to spend the day together and decided to go to the movies. We went to see “Knowing” and although my daughter watched most of the show looking through her fingers (she does that for scary movies), my wife and I enjoyed the show and the very cool special effects.

As we left the movie theatre I wondered to myself whether we should go out for dinner. My wife has been considering changing her job. We had seen a posting for a Thai restaurant looking for new staff. I asked if she wanted to go there to eat and check the place out. As soon as we sat down we were greeted by the restaurant owner. He was very nice and we struck up a conversation. My wife said she was Thai and the owner almost immediately said he was looking for staff and if she knew anyone looking for a job she should let them know. She said she may be looking herself and that led to a long conversation and a promise to go back today to talk some more. It all seemed strange to me, because I had been just as close to going straight home from that movie, as I had been to going for dinner. We had already filled ourselves with popcorn and coke.

You might think this is no big deal. Wait until you hear this next part. As we were finishing our delicious meal and talking amongst ourselves, the guy next to me started laughing. He turned his head and said my name. I looked at him and for a moment had absolutely not a clue who he was. Do you guys ever have those brief moments of anxiety when you think you should know someone but you don’t? Wondering if maybe you have lost your mind or Alzheimer’s has shown up for a visit. 

Then it hit me! It was Dominic …. I remember … my brain still works! I was looking at Dominic or Don as we called him back in the day. We had been friends since grade five, good friends through the teenage years. We used to fish together. I went to his wedding but I hadn’t laid eyes on the guy for over twenty years. The memories came rushing back. It was great to see an old friend. We shared stories about how life had changed. He has three kids now and a salt and pepper hair style, but other than that he really hasn’t changed much. He admitted that I looked different. I couldn’t argue with that. After all, the hair is gone now. I’ve got the groovy bifocals going on and I’m much heavier than I once was.

If this isn’t all strange enough, this was his first trip to the restaurant, as it was ours. He was driving home and fighting off a little sinus congestion. He decided to stop for a bowl of hot and spicy soup hoping it might help him breathe a little easier. So here we sat, after a series of lefts and rights, right beside each other after over 20 years apart. Does life get any stranger than that? Was it totally random or all in the cards? Was it destined to be this way no matter what we did? If you choose to believe in God, I dare say you might just laugh and say he works in strange ways.

Most Media Outlets Now Twitter

A tragic fire has claimed two lives in Toronto. News spreads quickly in a big city with all news radio and 24 hour news television. It was interesting to note that this story hit the Internet via Twitter within minutes, posted by 1010 CFRB radio. Almost every outlet in the city now posts on Twitter. The only one I can’t find is 680 News Radio. I follow just about everyone and when I wake up and start preparing for my nightshift as a TV Cameraman, I always check the tweets on Twitter to get up to date fast. That way I don’t have to visit 10 different web pages.

Twitter is a social network that allows users to post via 140 character text messages, giving up to the minute play by play on what they are doing, or in this case what news is happening. I also tweet through the night mostly just to keep me awake.My Twitter posts are also my Facebook status updates thanks to a add-on application.

http://www.twitter.com/
http://twitterholic.com/
http://www.orangatame.com/products/twitterberry/  Twtter on your Crackberry
http://twitter.com/LateNightCam  My little world on Twitter

Vault Explosion

Hydro vault explosion at 3650 Kingston Rd. in a high rise building. Hundreds evacuated about 2:30am after two explosions rocked the neighbourhood. Residents report lights were flickering on and off for hours before the fire alarms sounded. Shortly after that two explosions rocked the building. Nearby police officers reported feeling the blasts. One door of the vault was found across the parking lot about 50 meters away. Two vaults have exploded. One at ground level and one inside the underground garage. Hydro crews report heavy damage below ground. Very little visible damage at ground level but you can see the one vault with doors blown off. Hydro will not be restored any time soon. TTC buses brought in for residents. I have several good clips for radio. Video is babies in blankets and seniors being assisted by first responders.

Dude, I'm totally wired right now!

I’m always interested in new things, new ways to keep in touch with friends and family. I also find that on the night shift you need as many distractions as possible. When it’s busy you can just ignore them but when quiet nights arrive they help keep you awake. My latest distractions are social networks. I joined Facebook some time ago but recently with all the layoffs in local television, I find many more people networking and touching base with old friends and co-workers.

A few months ago I started blogging. I have a few friends around the country that read it when they have time. It’s not so much for them as it is for me. I just find writing keeps my brain working and helps me see my place in the world. Last week I joined Twitter. Twitter is like Facebook, in that it is an easy way for friends to keep each other up to date. What makes twitter different is that you are limited to 140 characters of text and most people use Twitter via smart phones or BlackBerry.

After a few days on Twitter I have found it very useful. I follow the posts of various users. Most of them are news related. It seems that just about every news organization in the world is now “tweeting” on Twitter. Right now I keep up to date on the posts of CBC News, Global News, CTV News, CP24, City News, Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star and many others. I also follow a few individual posters such as police officers and other news camera people. Toronto Fires Services also tweet all dispatches. This makes it easy for me to keep up to date with them without making too many phone calls.

I have figured all this out in just a few days. I have now connected my blog, my Facebook page and my Twitter posts together. Here is how it works. When I tweet it gets posted on Twitter and automatically changes my status on Facebook to match my last tweet. The Twitter posts also get automatically added to the side bar of my blog. So when I go to a shoot I will sometimes post a tweet describing the scene or what I’m covering. It’s fun for me, if for no one else, and helps keep me engaged and excited about my work.

And just to prove how extremely wired and hip I really am, I can also share with you that I am now sporting new HD glasses. These amazing HD glasses bring the whole world to my eyes in stunning HD. The great thing is they are also backwards compatible to standard definition. Depending on my needs I can easily adjust the view from stunning HD 1080P back down to standard definition with just a simple tilt of my head. The results are truly breathtaking to behold. Sometimes I find myself just frozen in astonishment, needing to take a few minutes to soak it all in.

Thank God for Bifocals!

Bifocals - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifocals
Tony’s Blog - http://torontocam.blogspot.com/
Twitter - http://twitter.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com
Twitter for BlackBerry - http://www.orangatame.com/products/twitterberry/