London fire battle early morning blaze at Hully Gully

London fire crews at the scene of an early morning fire at Hully Gully on Dec 28., 2017. Jake Jeffrey/980 CFPL

Smoke billowed over southwest London as fire crews dealt with an early morning fire.

The London Fire Department was called to the fire at Hully Gully The Ultimate Toy Store just before 5 a.m. Thursday.

Fire officials say they were able to stop the blaze before entered the storefront but the fire did extensive damage to a storage facility that housed boats and ATV’s in the back. Officials say damage from the fire could exceed $1 million.

Fire crews had the blaze contained by 8 a.m., there’s no word on the cause of the fire.

“We told the crews to maintain a defensive position because of the explosion and the subsequent collapse of the structure itself. We had flames 100 feet in the air and very turbulent black billowing smoke. It was quite a significant fire,” said District Chief Andy Britton.

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

There’s no word on what caused the fire and no word on whether anyone was injured.

Eight trucks and over 30 firefighters were needed to contain the blaze.

Fire crews battle an early morning fire at Hully Gully, at the corner of Wonderland Rd and Wharncliffe Rd pic.twitter.com/GCE1qTjDpx

— 980 CFPL London News (@AM980News) December 28, 2017

“When we arrived we were told there was a guard dog in the back, in a cage. The workers couldn’t retrieve him because the smoke and the flames were too heavy. We were able to get the dog, he’s safe,” said Britton.

Wharncliffe Road South and Wonderland Road South were both closed for a short time while fire crews battled the blaze.