One of Toronto's first apartment buildings may be about to lose its historic stained glass windows

Tenants of a 111-year-old apartment building in downtown Toronto say they're being told the historic stained glass windows that adorn their units are a fire hazard — and must either be removed or altered.

"It's heartbreaking because there's so much craftsmanship, so much beauty in the windows," said Lynda Eng, a 20-year resident of the building. "We're losing heritage if they do take the windows out."

The news comes after a Toronto Fire Service (TFS) inspector visited the 30 Charles Street E. low-rise last September, according to TFS documents. The inspector noted that the stained glass transom windows, which connect 11 of the building's apartments to short hallways, don't meet the city's fire code.

The fire code stipulates the windows must be able to keep a fire from spreading for at least 20 minutes. Stained glass has no fire rating at all, according to Ed Ceaser, a vice-president at Onyx Fire Protection Services in Mississauga, who is not directly involved with the Charles Street case.

"They will break during a fire," he said of the windows, adding they would allow flames to spread throughout a building much more quickly than fire-rated glass.

The TFS order says the windows must be made fire safe by Jan. 13. That means either replacing them or covering them with a material that has a 20-minute fire rating, such as wired glass, Ceaser said.

The building's managers, 30 Charles Street East Management, told CBC Toronto they intend to fight the TFS order.

The company would not agree to an interview but said in an email they may not have the authority to alter elements of the building, since it's a designated heritage site.

"We have asked Toronto Fire to review this order based on the (heritage) documents we have provided and revise the order," the email states. "We will escalate if necessary."

TFS confirmed in an email to CBC Toronto that it has issued an order to the building managers, but wouldn’t say where the discussions with the building management stand.

"Since issuing orders is the first formal step in a legal proceeding, we are unable to provide further details about the case, as it may go before the Provincial Offences Court, the Fire Safety Commission, or both," says the email from TFS Capt. Deepak Chagger.

When a building is designated a heritage site, it's protected from major alteration or demolition without the permission of the Toronto Preservation Board and city council.

But in the case of 30 Charles and many other heritage buildings like it, that bylaw only mentions the building's exterior architectural features — not its interior characteristics, like the stained glass windows.

If the stained glass windows are altered or removed, the city would lose an irreplaceable part of its history, says stained glass artist and historian Henry Knight.