Heavy smoke and loud explosions woke a number of residents of a high-rise apartment building Saturday morning at 50 Capulet Lane in London, Ontario.
A fire broke out in the garage next to their building.
“It was like boom, boom, boom,” said Arva Almardi, who lives in the building. “I woke up and then I saw a lot of smoke coming out of my window and then there were ten big booms.”
Almardi described the black smoke as “terrible” and said it made her niece cough when it came through her window.
A fire broke out in the underground garage of an apartment complex located on Capulet Lane and Beaverbrook Avenue on the morning of July 2, 2022. (Source: London Fire Department/Twitter) “I don’t recognize what an explosion sounds like, but it was really loud,” added Patricia Piggott, who he could see the smoke pouring out of the garage.
What they heard was a car on fire that spread to the two neighboring cars.
“They heard the tires exploding, popping, and it drove a lot of people crazy, of course,” said District Chief Kevin Culbertson of the London Fire Brigade.
“With the building right next to it, the smoke was coming right up the side of the building on the west side. So yes, it’s definitely likely [looked] these people feel like their building is on fire,” he added.
London Fire Brigade, which is just around the corner on Oxford Street, responded within minutes. But with so much smoke and cars parked below it made it difficult to locate.
“There is no readily available ventilation,” Culbertson said. “So we used the laser cameras, found the heat sources, and it worked well. We had to use AFFF foam there because of the gasoline from the cars.”
Cars were parked in the spaces outside the garage, which also made entry difficult.
London Police along with the London Fire Brigade and the Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating a suspicious car fire in a parking garage at 50 Capulet Lane July 2, 2022. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) “We were lucky to find close access,” Culbertson added. “Usually you’re hosed down a few levels trying to find where we’re going, but we were lucky it was right there. We hit it hard and we hit it fast and luckily there were no electric cars there.”
The London Fire Brigade wants a structural engineer to determine when it will be safe for tenants to gain access to their vehicles.
Meanwhile, London police have deemed the fire suspicious and the investigation has been handed over to the Street Crime Unit with the help of the London Fire Brigade and the Fire Marshal’s Office.
Police said there were no reports of injuries or damage at this time.
Add Comment