Fire at vacant London home causes $495K in damage, cause undetermined

London fire officials say no one was injured, but a blaze at a vacant home north of Hwy. 401 caused $495,000 in damage.

Emergency crews responded to the house on Colonel Talbot Road between Littlewood Drive and Decker Drive around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Passersby called 911 to report smoke coming from the property that officials say was set back about 1000 feet from the roadway.

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Platoon Chief Shawn Fitzgerald tells 980 CFPL when they arrived on site, the home was engulfed and they worked to cool and remove a propane tank that was in the garage before moving on to battle the flames in the home.

A barn and large shed on the site weren’t damaged.

Crews did an initial check around the property to look for signs anyone might be inside, but Fitzgerald says the doors were boarded up and the windows were intact.

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Once the flames were out, investigators began to probe what may have caused the blaze, but the damage was so extensive that inspectors could only say it originated in the attached garage and spread to the house from there.

“The investigators prefer to come to a conclusion, but unfortunately in this case, not one single fire cause could be determined,” Fitzgerald tells 980 CFPL, noting it’s frustrating for inspectors to be left without an answer.

Another challenge for crews, in this case, was the rural setting as it meant water had to be relayed onto the property because of a lack of hydrants.

“Water is shuttled by our two tankers that are 2,500 gallons of water each and then it’s dropped into our porta-tanks at the road and then pumped up to the fire scene,” says Fitzgerald.

“It is a complex process, but we do train on that regularly.”

Fitzgerald also credits the members of the public who reported the fire.

“It was a property quite a distance off the roadway and we’re just glad civilians were able to notice the fire 1,000 feet off the roadway and call 911 to notify us.”