A massive fire in London has destroyed several businesses and caused millions of dollars in damage.

The fire at 1700 Hyde Park Rd. started outside Porcino Restaurant late Thursday afternoon and quickly spread.

London police closed Hyde Park Road from Gainsborough Road to Fanshawe Park Road and urged people to avoid the area.

The plaza – a fixture in Hyde Park – had businesses such as a paint store and piano business.

It is estimated that the grand pianos destroyed are worth millions alone.

Jennifer Snitch owns a travel agency in the plaza.

“Quite a few tears. Not so much yesterday, but when we came here and saw our livelhood is gone, it’s heartbreaking,” says Snitch.

Tyler Arndt was working in the restaurant when the fire started. He says 25 people were inside at the time.

“Around 6:30 I was just putting some pans away. One of the waiters, who was having a smoke, came in and said there is a fire out back. So, we all excited the building,” says Arndt.

Smoke from the extensive blaze could be seen for miles and sent people to social media to share information.

The Fire Marshal’s Office has been called in to investigate.

A cause has yet to be determined.

Employees and customers fled more than a dozen stores Thursday evening as a fast-moving fire spread through a strip mall in Hyde Park.

London police said no one was injured in the blaze that appeared to start at the rear of Porcino restaurant at about 6:20 p.m.

Thick black smoke from the burning building was visible for kilometres and drew a large crowd of onlookers who watched as firefighters in aerial ladders tried to knock down the flames and keep the fire from spreading to a building to the south of the plaza.

Cathy Cloes, who owns the plaza at 1700 Hyde Park Rd. with her husband Gary, said at least nine of the 14 businesses in the building were destroyed.

“It’s devastating,” Gary Cloes said at the scene.

He said he was alerted to the fire by his son, who works in a Benjamin Moore paint store the family owns in the plaza.

Elizabeth Earendregt was waiting for her second facial at Elation Spa shortly when she was told she had to leave by esthetician Agata Kukawka.

“I was on the table, naked from the waist up, and the esthetician came in and said we had to leave because there was a fire at the end of the plaza,” she said.

“I quickly threw my clothes on and left and it was so fast I didn’t have a chance to get move my car.”

Kukawka said noticed a breeze in the back room when getting a glass of water.

“My back door kept on opening and closing and that usually doesn’t happen. I thought there was a big wind outside,” she said. “I went outside and I felt the heat of the fire.”

Kukawka said she was told by nearby business owners to evacuate the spa and cross the street where she watched as the businesses went up in flames.

“When the fire hit the paint store, that’s when all the dark smoke was coming.”

London police warned residents living northeast of the plaza to stay indoors and close their windows and doors to avoid the smoke.

The heat from the flames could be felt 100 metres away. Several vehicles parked in front of the plaza were torched.

“By the time our officers responded, the fire had spread to adjacent businesses in that plaza,” Staff Sgt. Paul Gambriel said.

Police closed Hyde Park Road as dozens of firefighters battled the blaze. At least 10 fire trucks, three ambulances and police vehicles were on the scene.

An investigator from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office arrived Thursday night.

An official from the Hyde Park Business Association showed up to lend support to business owners and employees affected by the fire.

“This is just devastating for them and their families,” president Donna Szpakowski said.

Coun. Josh Morgan, whose ward includes Hyde Park, said he planned to meet Friday with the business association to see what could be done for business owners.

Morgan, like other onlookers, posted photos on Twitter and did a Periscope video showing the gutted building.

Source: No one injured in fast-moving Hyde Park plaza fire that forced employees and customers of 14 stores to flee | London Free Press