A fire which threatened the lives of an elderly London couple Wednesday night is believed to have started in this living room where flames rose up the front wall and licked into the attic.
(By Sam McLeod – The London Free Press)
By Eric Bender of The Free Press
An elderly couple was pulled unconscious from their burning Dufferin Avenue home Wednesday night after firefighters broke down the front door and fought their way through heavy smoke.
Charles Jackson, 88, deaf from a First World War wound, and his wife Beatrice, 68, were found on the main floor of their two-storey frame house at 905 Dufferin Ave., by fireman Wayne Norton.
Mrs. Jackson was in stable condition in the intensive care unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital today.
She had inhaled smoke and was given oxygen by firefighters and by a Thames Valley Ambulance crew.
Mr. Jackson suffered smoke inhalation, police said, as well as minor burns. He is in critical condition at Victoria Hospital.
The fire was first noticed by Diane Stubbert, 15, who lives next door, as she pulled into her driveway with Barry McKaig, 17, of 1064 Margaret St.
Diane ran into her house where her mother telephoned the emergency number.
Meanwhile, Barry tried the back and front doors of the Jackson house. Both were locked. He broke the front window and started scooping snow into the living room with his hands.
“I couldn’t have got in anyway,” said Barry of the locked doors. “There was too much smoke and heat.”
Barry McKaig and Diane Stubbert spotted fire, turned in alarm.
(By Sam McLeod – The London Free Press)
Both victims were in night clothes and Diane said the rescuers were “thumping” Mrs. Jackson on the chest.
District Fire Chief Frank Fieldhouse said the fire began in the front room and flames went up the front wall into the attic.
Wayne Norton, fireman rescues couple.
(By Sam McLeod – The London Free Press)
The main floor, which contained a bedroom where Mr. Jackson was found, was gutted and there was extensive damage on the second floor.
Neighbors said it was the third fire at the house within a year – the others were minor blazes. Once a chair caught fire but it was thrown out before the fire could spread.
Neighbors also said the couple often asked for assistance in tasks around the house. Mr. Jackson had a heart attack last year.
The couple had a cat named Jennifer “that they loved like a child,” a neighbor said.
George Stubbert, Diane’s father, said today he searched for the cat but there was no sign of it. He guesses it might be inside the house, now boarded up.
Exact cause of the fire has not been determined but Chief Fire Inspector James Sneddon said one report indicates careless smoking is involved
