‘Stubborn’ auto shop fire could burn past midnight
About 20 London firefighters continue battled a “stubborn” fire at an auto shop at 30 Childers St. off Brydges Street.
Spokesperson Rick Jefferson said at the scene that mechanics were replacing the fuel pump of a vehicle up on a lift when some fuel leaked, touched the engine block and ignited around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday morning (Jan. 15).
“It spread very quickly,” Jefferson said. “You can’t see them but there are still open flames inside the building and we’ve taken a defensive position outside. It would be very dangerous to be in there right now.”
He said three vehicles including a large tow truck are inside the shop.
An employee of a similar shop across the road said he looked out the door to see flames two or three times the height of the one-storey building shooting into the sky.
“I’ve never seen anything like this down here,” he said.
Emergency vehicles, London Hydro and Hydro One vehicles have crammed the one-block stretch of street making it difficult for residents to get in and out of their driveways. Firefighters had to run a line from a hydrant at the intersection of Brydges Street for about 250 feet down the middle of the street to further complicating things.
At one point a fire engine called in for backup had to wait at that same intersection while Canada Post and other vans and an ambulance moved out of the way.
With a slew of dangerous substances including rubber, oil and fuel inside the auto shop, firefighters used dams and mats to mitigate the amount of contaminated runoff entering the storm sewer.
“Measures are being taken.” Jefferson said.
(Update 7:35 p.m.):
An evacuation order is lifted but London firefighters expect to be at the scene of a “very stubborn” fire at a Childers Street auto shop until midnight if not later.
Flames several feet high were still intermittently shooting from the collapsed wreckage of the shop at 30 Childers St. off Brydges Street as heavy equipment dug through looking for hotspots after 6 p.m. The air within a few doors of the shop was still acrid with the toxic materials that burned inside the shop, including three vehicles.
According to London Fire Department Spokesperson Rick Jefferson mechanics were replacing the fuel pump of a vehicle on a lift when some fuel leaked, touched the engine block and ignited around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday morning (Jan. 15).
“It spread very quickly,” Jefferson said. “This was a defensive call from the beginning, we never went inside.”
An employee of a shop across the road said he looked out the door to see flames two or three times the height of the one-storey building shooting into the sky.
“I’ve never seen anything like this down here,” he said.
London police assisted with an evacuation order for the area issued at about 3:30 p.m. as crews prepared to knock down the structure. Jefferson said an “abundance of caution” inspired the evacuation, which first applied to a handful of nearby businesses and was expanded to Ashland Ave, and Langmuir Ave between Wilton Ave and Brydges St.
Jefferson said at the scene that once the building started coming down, oxygen would feed into the fire and create a lot more smoke that could be drawn into buildings by ventilation systems.
He said the fire itself never posed any threat to the public.
Ministry of the Environment officials tested the air in several places and decided to lift the evacuation at about 5:30 p.m. for all areas except Childers Street. London police pulled out their mobile command post at about 6 p.m.
Though not within the evacuation area, Prince Charles Public School voluntarily kept its students on-site after hours, inviting parents to pick them up. The city opened Carling Heights Community Centre and dispatched London transit buses so those evacuated could keep warm.
In the early hours of the response emergency vehicles, London Hydro and Hydro One vehicles crammed the one-block stretch of street making it difficult for residents to get in and out of their driveways in the early stages of the fire response. Firefighters had to run a line from a hydrant at the intersection of Brydges Avenue for about 250 feet down the middle of the street to further complicating things.
