A fire at a London & Middlesex Community Housing high-rise apartment building on Simcoe Street led to the evacuation of an entire floor and sent nine people to hospital.
Emergency crews were called around 6:30 a.m. Saturday after a blaze broke out on the sixth floor, where firefighters encountered intense flames and thick smoke. Crews were able to contain the fire to a single unit, though heavy smoke spread throughout the floor, prompting multiple rescues and the evacuation of residents to the ground level for medical assessment.
Paramedics confirmed that nine people, including an infant, were transported to hospital, with four listed in stable condition and five in critical condition. The incident also prompted London Health Sciences Centre to briefly activate a code orange, indicating an influx of patients from a major emergency. The alert was lifted later in the morning.
Officials say between 10 and 20 residents were displaced. Crews worked to ventilate the building and stabilize conditions, while also addressing service disruptions, including non-functioning elevators.
The fire caused significant damage to a sixth-floor unit and its balcony, though the full extent of the loss has not yet been determined. A second fire on the second-floor balcony of the building was also extinguished shortly after the first one. Investigators are working to determine whether the two incidents are connected.
Investigators from the London Fire Department and the provincial fire marshal’s office are working to determine the cause.