Toronto police say a devastating fire at the historic St. Anne’s Anglican Church is not being treated as suspicious at this time, although investigators are still trying to determine what caused the blaze.
The four-alarm fire ripped through the national historic site on Sunday morning, destroying unique Group of Seven murals inside.
Police and fire marshals are now at the site, as some church staff were seen carrying documents out of the severely damaged building.
The church, built in 1907 and 1908, was designated a national historic site in 1996 and in 1980 it was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Toronto.
Early paintings by three Group of Seven members and other prominent Canadian artists were installed along the interior in the 1920s. The murals decorated the chancel and the dome, which was destroyed in the blaze.
In 1923, the church commissioned founding Group of Seven member J.E.H. MacDonald to oversee designs depicting the life of Christ on the building’s interior, according to the St. Anne’s website. MacDonald then signed on nine other artists, including Franklin Carmichael and Frederick Varley.
The three men formed part of the school of landscape painters known as the Group of Seven, renowned for their vibrant depictions of windswept forests and boreal ruggedness that helped forge a romanticized sense of Canadian vitality and independence.
“The artwork was priceless. It was murals, beautiful murals,” said Father Don Beyers, who has served as the parish priest for the past three years. “They were stunning.”
“This was the only church that featured artwork by members of the Group of Seven and I’m sorry to say that has been lost based on what I see,” he said, adding there were also images of St. Anne and St. George.
“It’s something we cannot replace in Canada and the world,” Davenport Coun. Alejandra Bravo noted.
There was no one inside the church in the city’s Little Portugal neighbourhood at the time and no injuries were reported.