London firefighters had to battle a house fire and the elements Wednesday morning.
Fire crews were called to a home at 762 Colborne Street, near Colborne and Oxford Street, around 4:30 a.m.
Fire officials say they saw flames shooting from the house, which is a triplex, when they arrived. Three people were inside at the time of the fire, all got out safely thanks to working smoke detectors.
The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical in nature and is not considered suspicious.
“A lot of smoke and a bit of flames through the roof,” said District Chief Andy Britton.
The home, which is 130 years old, provided its own challenges but firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze relatively quickly.
“Repairs upon repairs, it’s all lath work inside and plaster,” said Britton. “130-year-old boards that have been dry all this years and they were just a lit match, we were able to knock it down pretty quickly.”
The elements provided another challenge. The temperature was -14 C at the time of the fire but felt like -24 C with the wind chill.
Britton said they had to go up the side of the house, which was ice covered. The cold mixed with the water drenched their fire coats, resulting some crews being sent back to the station for warmth.
No firefighters were injured while battling the blaze.
A damage estimate hasn’t been released.