Paperwork is damaged in a fire deliberately installed at the former Toronto City Hall

Investigators believe that a fire was deliberately declared in the old Toronto City Hall on Monday night.

The first firefighters were alerted to the fire around 8 pm.

Although the fire was quickly brought under control, investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal and the Toronto Fire Department stayed on the scene for hours investigating the cause

. Pegg said Tuesday morning at CP24 that the investigation had been entrusted to the Toronto Police

"We can confirm that the fire was intentionally committed," he said.

"The scene investigation was completed around 4:30 pm. The Office of the Fire Marshal and a provincial fire investigator were deployed here overnight and worked with our team. Investigation with the Toronto police all night. the southeast corner of the building suffered damage from smoke and water, but was found otherwise structurally intact.

The cost of damages is estimated at about $ 100,000. Some documents were damaged in the fire, but a spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General said that none of the documents involved related to criminal cases.

"The fire of the old city hall touched the appeals office. The damage caused by fire and water is being badessed, "a spokesperson told CP24 by e-mail. "The POA's appeals office and scheduled affairs in an audience room have been moved to the interior of the building."

A CTV News Toronto reporter who entered the The building stated that the damage was limited to an office inside the building. The media are prevented from taking pictures or videos inside the building since it is an operational courthouse.

"We are very lucky that this building has sprinklers and that the system is working as expected. I said. "It would have been a very different scenario if it had not been the case."

The building is open today while the investigation continues.