London police and firefighters stand out front of an apartment building located on Belmont Drive, where a man was found dead after fire engulfed a fourth-floor apartment on Sunday night (Oct. 21).
A fire broke out at a Belmont Drive apartment building early Sunday evening (Oct. 21) leaving one person dead.
“We were dispatched to what was called in as an apartment fire on the fourth floor,” said London Fire Department Platoon Chief Jeff Adams about the fire at a 90-unit apartment building, located at 111 Belmont Dr., part of Windy Woods Co-operative Homes.
Fighting heavy smoke and high heat, Adams said firefighters “conducted a search of the apartment, located the fire and unfortunately the fire was in an area where there was also a person who was found to be deceased.”
According to neighbours, the man was confined to a wheelchair. Police now have the apartment cordoned off as they investigate the cause of the fire.
Fire crews conducted a floor-by-floor search looking for anyone else that might have succumbed to the smoke that filled some floors and stairwells. Fortunately, at this point, Adams said it appears everyone else either escaped the building or sought shelter on the balconies of their apartments while firefighters got the blaze under control.
The building is now being tested for carbon monoxide levels and exhaust fans are being used to ventilate each floor.
More to come on this breaking story.
