London fire crews were kept busy battling a fire at an address on Third Street early Wednesday.
Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger says they received multiple calls at approximately 12:30 a.m. about a structure fire at 595 Third Street.
He says they arrived to find heavy smoke and fire coming from unit 74.
“Quickly contained the fire to the first floor and ensured all occupants were out,” said Mosburger, adding that four people attended a local hospital.
He says three people remain in hospital, although there is no word on the extent of their injuries.
Get breaking National news
A fire prevention inspector is on site, along with Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal, as the investigation into the cause of the fire continues.
Mosburger says it’s believed that the fire started in the kitchen area, which has become a troubling trend in the city recently.
“Since Saturday, we’ve actually had seven structure fires in the city, and five of those have been determined to be caused by unattended cooking,” Mosburger said.
“We’re very concerned about this occurring over the last few days, and we want to make sure people are paying attention.”
Early damage estimates to the unit, as well as contents inside, are pegged at $150,000.
Mosburger says most people don’t realize how quickly a cooking-related fire can happen until it’s too late.
“You need to be sure you’re not distracted. It’s no different than distracted driving. It only takes a moment before something gets really, really bad, and fires can become a very big problem very quickly if they are unattended.”
Crews were able to keep the fire contained, and no neighbouring units were damaged.
Mosburger says some pets inside the building died as a result of the fire.
Comments