Damage pegged at $500K in suspicious fire at historic London building
A suspicious Monday fire at a historic building near the London courthouse caused an estimated $500,000 in damages, fire officials say.
The figure stems from the content that was lost in the fire – the building was used by a number of law offices – as well as the historic value of the property, said Jack Burt, London’s acting deputy fire chief.
“Because of the nature of the content and the fact the building is a heritage building, it would cost more to rebuild,” he said about the estimate.
Firefighters arrived at the building at 435 Ridout St. N. shortly before 5 a.m. Monday, after being alerted by a passerby who noticed heavy smoke coming out of the structure.
Firefighters were forced to break windows to ventilate the structure and allow the heavy smoke to escape before it was safe to enter the building. Though the interior of the structure, originally built in the 1800s in the Georgian style, was severely damaged, the integrity of the building was not compromised by the fire, Burt said.
“The structure is extremely intact,” he said. “It was a well-built building in its day.”
London police have taken over the investigation into the cause of the fire and will be working with the fire department and the Ontario Fire Marshal.
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One of London’s oldest structures, the building was originally home of the first Bank of Upper Canada branch in the city and was part of London’s first financial and commercial district.
After the establishment of the head offices of five banks in the area, the street came to be known as “bankers’ row.”
Anyone with information on the fire is asked to call police at 519-661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
Source: Damage pegged at $500K in suspicious fire at historic London building | The London Free Press
