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- Forensic identification unit on scene, fire crews have cleared. Ontario fire marshal is on the way. Investigation ongoing. (HALA GHONAIM, The London Free Press)
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- Melanie Osgood, left, and Erin Brasil stand in front of the building where an early morning blaze killed one woman. (HALA GHONAIM, The London Free Press)
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- Apartment fire at 630 Huron St. (HALA GHONAIM, The London Free Press)
A close-knit apartment community is shattered by the death of a 60-year-old woman and her two cats after an early morning fire at a Huron Street apartment building in east London.
Emergency workers were called to a blaze at 630 Huron st. at about 3:40 a.m. Thursday where they found the woman unresponsive, police said.
Firefighters performed CPR until paramedics arrived and treated and transported her to hospital, but she did not survive.
Police have not released the woman’s name, but neighbours said she was in her 60s and remembered her to be young at heart.
“She didn’t look her age very well,” said Melanie Osgood, 22, who lived in the apartment unit beside the victim. “She was a very active person. She was always on the go.”
Osgood was sleeping when the fire started and was woken up by her dog.
“I woke up and there was a bunch of smoke, my dog had smacked me across the face to wake me up,” said Osgood, who was treated in hospital for minor injuries. “All I heard was banging next door, and I opened the door, and all I see is firefighters trying to get into the door next to mine.”
Osgood met the victim last fall when she moved to London from Sudbury and recalled being quickly welcomed into the tight-knit apartment floor.
She said the victim had been living by herself at the Huron Street apartment for about six years.
“In the building, there’s a sense of family on our floor because we all hangout together. We would be talking in the hallways until 1:00 a.m. in the morning,” said Osgood, smiling at the memory.
The scene is still under investigation by the police and the cause of the fire and damage estimates are still unknown. A post-mortem exam will take place Thursday afternoon at the London Health Sciences Centre.
Police are asking anyone with information relating to this incident to call the London Police Service at (519) 661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Information can also be sent in on-line anonymously to www.londoncrimestoppers.com.
Source: Police investigating fatal fire | The London Free Press
