Two people sent to hospital, cats rescued from London house fire

Two people have been taken to hospital, and three cats have been rescued after crews were called to a "fully involved" structure fire in east London.

Platoon Chief Brent Shea confirmed that several people were in the structure at the time of the fire, “We had two people transported, one with severe burns and two people being assessed at this time.”

The call came in around 9:30 a.m. and it took crews three minutes to arrive to the scene in the area of Hamilton Road and Egerton Street.

At the peak of the blaze seven trucks and 30 firefighters were on scene.

There is no word on how the fire started but crews said that it was difficult to navigate.

Crews are on scene of a structure fire in the area of Hamilton Road and Egerton Street in London, Ont. Dec. 4, 2024. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)

Fortunately, everyone was able to walk out of the structure on their own once the firefighters cleared a path for exit.

Although it has not yet been confirmed how the blaze began, there was a silver lining, said Chief Shea, “At this time it can be confirmed that we had working smoke alarms, so this is a great reminder to everyone to have that early notification.”

Crews have since cleared the scene and the intersection has been reopened - the Ontario Fire Marshal has been contacted to investigate the cause of the blaze. At this time, damage is estimated at $600,000.