Toronto firefighters called to rescue man stuck between two buildings

TORONTO – A man who spent nearly eight hours stuck in a narrow space between two buildings in downtown Toronto was freed late Tuesday after firefighters broke through part of a wall to rescue him.

Toronto Fire Captain Michael Westwood said firefighters were called to a set of buildings on Sherbourne Street near Queen Street shortly after 8:15 p.m.

The man told rescuers he had fallen from a nearby roof and got stuck between the buildings about five hours earlier, Westwood said.

“He was wedged in a really tight space — about (20 centimetres),” said Westwood. “His head was sideways, his body was wedged in there really tight.”

The man’s reduced circulation, as a result of his situation, would have left him too weak to crawl out of the gap, Westwood said.

Firefighters managed to break through a thick wall in one of the buildings and free the man at around 11 p.m. Tuesday, Westwood said.

The man was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Westwood said.