Firefighters remain on the scene of an early morning blaze in downtown London on Wednesday.
Fire crews were called to a three-storey building at 430 Richmond St., located between Dundas Street and Queens Avenue, shortly before 5 a.m.
“A keyholder for the building made the call around 4:45 this morning,” said London police Cnst. Matt Hopkins from the scene.
“A working fire was located between the second and third floor.”
After firefighters gained entry to the building, they were able to quickly extinguish the blaze.
The three-story walk up is home to Macro Foods and Artisan’s Alley, which has an art shop, tailoring business, and a fitness club.
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Some of the art experienced water and smoke damage, which led crews to bring in tarps to protect the pieces.
One of the gallery’s owners, Dini O’dell, was in Switzerland visiting her ill brother during the time of the fire, according to Chapman.
Richmond Street was closed between Dundas Street and Queens Avenue for over six hours, but is now open to one lane in each direction.
There is no word yet on what caused the fire, and there have been no injuries reported.
“There was a fair amount of fire damage and a lot of contents in the area of the fire,” Deputy Fire Chief Brian McLaughlin said. “They have to methodically sift through all of the fire-damaged furnishings and building materials.”
A damage estimate has not been determined at this time.