Fires at two separate London apartment buildings Wednesday night temporarily displaced tenants and sent one person to hospital with serious injuries.
Calls began coming into 911 about smoke coming from a three-storey walk-up on King Edward Avenue near Thompson Road around the dinner hour.
"Crews arrived on site to find exactly that, plus fire coming from a lower unit," said London Fire Department Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger. "We had information en route to the call that there was one tenant that was trapped as a result of mobility issues. So our efforts really concentrated on the rescue and fire control upon arrival."
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to one unit and rescued the trapped tenant. That individual was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital, where they remained Thursday afternoon in serious condition.
All of the other residents of the building escaped safely. London Transit buses were brought in to temporarily shelter them before it was determined they would not be allowed back in for an extended period of time. As of Thursday morning, hydro and water has not been restored to the building, Mosburger noted
"We had significant damage on the fire floor, which was the first floor. Heavy smoke damage down the hallway. There was some smoke damage throughout the entire structure," said Mosburger. "The official damage estimate will be determined by our investigators."
Fire prevention investigators, the Ontario Fire Marshal, and police continue to investigate the fire, which has been deemed suspicious.
London firefighters on scene at 563 Mornington Ave., April 21, 2021. (Photo by Ruby Sweeney, Blackburn News)
The second apartment fire broke out around 11 p.m in an eighth floor unit at 563 Mornington Ave. The building's tenants were able to get out without incident.
Thick smoke was coming from the building when crews arrived.
"We were able to bring the fire under control relatively quickly," said Mosburger.
The blaze caused approximately $50,000 damage and the cause was determined to be careless cooking.
