Aylmer residents praise exhausted firefighters

Aylmer firefighters prepare to leave the scene of a fire that destroyed a new home on Aspen Parkway on Friday, March 24, 2023. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)

Emergency services in Aylmer, particularly the fire department, are having an exhausting week.

As crews still cope with the aftermath of a major downtown fire, another blaze destroyed a home under construction.

At 2:35 a.m. on Friday, a 911 call sent multiple engines to a nearly completed structure on Aspen Parkway — the street is inside a new subdivision.

“When crews arrived, the upper storey was completely involved. Very little fire on the first level,” Chief Todd McKone told CTV London.

The home, which had not yet been occupied, is a total loss with damage estimated at $1-million.

The fire has been deemed suspicious. Aylmer Police and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office (OFM) are investigating.

Firefighters cleared the scene around 9 a.m., the same time salvage crews arrived at the site of the downtown fire.

For now, they are only cleaning up debris around the portions of the building which still stand.

As a result, Talbot Street from John to Queen Streets remains closed.Anne Harder operated a business inside a century building destroyed by fire in downtown Aylmer, Ontario. March 24, 2023. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)

Anne Harder was watching the cleanup at the backside of the building.

She owns a now-destroyed accounting business. Its office was on the ground floor.

Harder told CTV News London she was inside the burning building Monday around 8:15 p.m. when suddenly, another tenant told her to get out quickly.

“And then it all happened from there. It went downhill,” she said.

But like many in Aylmer, Harder reflects on the compassionate work of firefighters. She said one prevented her from going back to get documents still inside the building.

“He convinced me not to run back in for anything. He was very reassuring and supporting,” said Harder.

On Friday, as salvage crews handed over tax files that survived the blaze, Harder continued her accolades.

But she is not alone.

Bob Nesbitt speaks highly of the Aylmer fire department after two major fires in recent days. March 24, 2023. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)Town resident Bob Nesbitt, a one-time volunteer firefighter, also had kind words.

“We’ve got a great fire department. There is no doubt about it. Also, the surrounding areas, we want to thank them for coming to help us out,” said Nesbitt.

Still, Nesbitt and a collective chorus of Aylmer residents are hopeful the string of fires is over.

“Get things back to normal, that’s what we need," Nesbitt said.