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A fire forced the evacuation of an entire floor of a London & Middlesex Community Housing apartment building and sent nine people to hospital early Saturday.
Fire crews were called to 241 Simcoe Street in London just after 6:30 a.m. and found a fire contained in one apartment on the sixth floor of the 12-storey building.
“My dog woke me up. I smelled the smoke and I just stepped onto my balcony and saw the whole living room at that unit was burning,” said resident Qusai Ahmad, who lives on the ninth floor.
“There was a lot of smoke and flames. Everyone was scared, terrified. They just wanted to escape the building.”
London Fire Platoon Chief Colin Shewell said crews were able to extinguish the fire and made multiple rescues from apartments. Sixth-floor residents were helped down to the main floor where they were assessed by paramedics.
“The fire was contained to one unit with extensive smoke damage to the sixth floor,” said Shewell.
Earlier on Saturday, Middlesex-London Paramedic Service told CBC News that four people, including an infant, were taken to the hospital in stable condition and five were transported in critical condition.
On Sunday morning, London Fire officials confirmed the number of people taken to hospital.
Shewell said sixth-floor residents who were not hospitalized and required shelter were taken to a reception centre at the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre. Shewell said some of the sixth floor residents, he estimated about 15 in total, will be provided shelter by the Red Cross while the floor is assessed.
About an hour after the fire was first reported, residents on other floors were allowed back in the building.
Ahmad said the building remained busy the rest of the day, with fire investigation, police, building management and cleaning crews on site.
“The cleaning crew are still cleaning and I saw the security this morning when I left,” he said on Sunday morning. “Things are looking normal so far, hopefully.”
Shewell said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
“We have two investigators assigned as well as the Ontario Fire Marshal at this time,” he said.
After the first fire was extinguished, a second fire was put out on one of the second-floor balconies on the west side of the building. Shewell said it’s unclear if it the second fire was related to the first.
Matt Senechal of London & Middlesex Community Housing said there are 19 units on the sixth floor. He said crews are assessing the damage.
“Right now our major priority is getting the building systems up and running,” he said.
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