Woman hurt in fire at northeast London highrise with no working smoke alarms
BY MIRANDA CHANT LondonNewsToday.ca
London Fire Department vehicle on Mornington Avenue, March 25, 2024. Photo courtesy London Fire Department/X.
One person was taken to hospital after a blaze at a London apartment building where fire officials found no working smoke alarms.
Fire crews were called to the highrise at 583 Mornington Ave., just south of Oxford Street East, shortly after 3 a.m. on Monday. They were notified of the fire by a woman trapped on her balcony.
When crews arrived on scene they found light smoke conditions and water leaking out of the unit where the fire originated.
“The fire melted a plastic water pipe that fed the heater [in the apartment] and that assisted in knocking the fire down,” said London Fire Department Platoon Chief Kirk Loveland.
He added that helped keep the blaze contained to just one unit.
“The damage wasn’t too severe. There is going to be cleanup required and the heating system will have to be restored, but it wasn’t a total loss because the water from the pipe knocked down that fire,” said Loveland.
Damage is estimated at $25,000.
Firefighters rescued the tenant, a woman, from the balcony. She was taken to hospital with unspecified injuries.
Fire investigators are working to determine the origin and cause of the blaze. What they have already found is that there were no working smoke alarms in the apartment.
“If there had been it would have been an early warning that would have alerted the person earlier and they wouldn’t have been stuck in fire conditions,” said Loveland. “It is so important to have working smoke alarms. They are lifesavers.”
It is the law in Ontario to have working smoke alarms on every storey of a home and outside of all sleeping areas. Landlords have to test alarms annually and after every change in tenancy. Tenants are required to notify their landlord of any non-working smoke alarms in their residence. Fines for tampering with or removing smoke alarm batteries can range from $360 to $50,000 for an individual and up to $100,000 for a corporation.
Monday’s fire was the third at an apartment building in the city in the past three days. On Saturday, firefighters were called to separate blazes at 980 Cheapside Street and 349 Wharncliffe Road.
