Nayantara Malloy thinks of her husband's old love letters in the apartment they fled when flames engulfed their building, and starts to cry.

But then she looks at her beautiful six-month-old baby son Nirvan and glances over to meet her husband's eyes. She perks up, smiles and says thank God they are all safe.

The Malloys and tenants of two other second-floor apartments, along with 10 customers and staff downstairs at the quaint Village Bakery in downtown Dundas, all escaped a 10:30 a.m. fire Saturday that started in the bakery's storefront Christmas tree.

Damage is estimated at $750,000 to $1 million.

The fire spread so fast customers Joyce Schumacher and Linda Charko fled into the biting cold without their coats and Schumacher's purse.

"This tree was completely on fire and the flames were licking the ceiling," said Charko. "I wasn't going back to get my coat."

The two friends were having coffee at a table without a view of the tree when they heard a man yell "fire" as he herded two young children to the door.

The fire was caused by an electrical short in the Christmas lights on the real tree.

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Fire destroys Dundas bakery