Fire officials say a carelessly discarded cigarette is the likely cause of a fire at a downtown London, Ont., landmark that caused $25,000 in damages.
Emergency responders were called out to The Richmond Tavern at Richmond and King Streets around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Platoon Chief Colin Shewell says crews were met by heavy black smoke coming from one of the residences above the bar, but firefighters were able to quickly get the blaze under control.
“The Richmond Tavern employees did an awesome job. Everyone was out of the building and our crews were able to get that information quite quickly.”
No injuries were reported.
While damage is pegged at $25,000, the fire department says “the dollars saved by firefighters to this landmark downtown building is priceless.”
According to its website, The Richmond Tavern, known as The Richmond, was built in 1852 and “is one of southern Ontario’s oldest watering holes.”
— with files from Global News’ Jess Brady.