London firefighters made short work of a pair of west-end residential fires reported within minutes of each other Wednesday night.
Alarms at a highrise on Berkshire Drive south of Springbank Drive went off just before 8:30 p.m. Fire crews arrived to find a blaze in a ground floor unit. No one was inside the apartment at the time the fire began.
“Crews advanced our fire hose lines to extinguish the fire and contain it to the one unit on the first floor,” said Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger. “Crews did an amazing job of containing the smoke migration throughout the rest of the building and were able to contain the majority of it to the first and second floors.”
No one was hurt in the fire.
Damage is estimated at $35,000 and the cause of the fire has been deemed accidental, Mosburger said.
The second blaze was reported at a home at 117 Riverside Dr. west of Wharncliffe Road just after 8:30 p.m. Flames and smoke were seen coming from the back of the home when firefighters got to the scene.
Half a dozen people inside the house made it out safely before crews arrived.
“This fire grew very, very quickly, to the point where the individuals inside didn’t even have time to put their shoes on their feet before getting out of the house,” said Mosburger. “With the assistance of our emergency management operations group we were able to work with the Red Cross last night to find them accommodations , as well as clothing and the essential items of a nights stay somewhere other than their current residence.”
The blaze caused an estimated $100,000 damage.
Mosburger credits the family’s having a fire safety plan for this fire not having a more severe outcome.
“Working smoke alarms, knowing what to do when a fire actually occurs, and getting people out in a timely manner is everything we can hope for as a fire service. Notifying us as soon as you can so we can get to the fire scene and contain the fire as quickly as we can makes all the difference.”
Fire prevention investigators determined the fire was accidental, caused by cooking that had been left unattended.
