Owners vow to rebuild after Wortley Village cafe destroyed by fire

The owners of the Black Walnut Bakery and Cafe in London’s Wortley Village are vowing to rebuild, after a Sunday morning fire destroyed the beloved community hub.

“It’s obviously devastating… and we’re just going to rebuild… and bring Black Walnut back to the community,” said co-owner Ed Etheridge.

According to the London Fire Department, the structure fire at Wortley Road and Craig Street broke out around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Crews immediately went into offensive mode upon arrival. By late morning they were still dousing hot spots.

“The fire was moving around the building, forced the crews to back out,” explained Platoon Chief Kirk Loveland. “We tried opening up the roof to get at the fire, but building like this could be multiple construction where fire’s trapped in voids, and it’s just been a stubborn fire to put out.”

The top level of the building is a residence. There was no one in the building when the fire broke out, and there are no reported injuries.

Neighbour Brian Baillargeon, who lives a couple doors north on Wortley Road, said he was awoken at 3:30 a.m. by heavy smoke coming into his home.

“Every time it looked like they had the flames out, it just started again, and started again, and started again,” he said. “But hundreds of thousands of gallons of water was dumped, and dumped, and dumped, and dumped. It was a raging river down the road for several hours. It’s an absolute shame.”

Fire crews on scene of a structure fire at the Black Walnut Cafe in Wortley Village in London, Ont. on Sunday, April 16, 2023. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

By mid-morning, a large crowd had gathered, watching what was left of this heritage building toppled, and reduced to a pile of steaming rubble.

“It’s really a fixture in the community, and very sad to see this occur this morning,” said Wortley Village resident Vincent DiLiello, who would come to the Black Walnut almost every morning for coffee.

“It’s an iconic building from the 1880s,” explained Etheridge. “We actually have a lot of historic photos in there, and had a book made about the history of the building. And so, it’s really sad to see that type of icon go down,” he said.

The office of the Ontario Fire Marshal has been notified of the fire. The cause has not yet been determined at this time. Damaged is estimated at $2 million.

Fire and emergency crews on scene following a fire at the Black Walnut Cafe in Wortley Village in London, Ont. on Sunday, April 16, 2023. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)