'He's Amazing': Neighbour gets three families out of burning homes
A man is credited with awakening the sleeping residents of three homes impacted by a fire.
The blaze broke out at 3:15 a.m. Tuesday in a large townhome complex located at 700 Osgoode Dr.
Ange Senese tells CTV News London he had just awoken to let his dog out when suddenly he heard a noise.
“I heard like bang, bang, bang.”
Senese turned around and saw fire shooting from a neighbour's townhome unit across the street.
Ange Senese stands in front of townhomes damaged by fire in London, Ont., Tuesday, June 15, 2021. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)
Ange Senese stands in front of townhomes damaged by fire in London, Ont., Tuesday, June 15, 2021. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)
He says he then ran quickly ran back into his home and yelled to his mother, Michelle Senese, to call the fire department.
“My son came into the house and yelled, ‘Mom, mom, call 911!” she says.
As Michelle did that, Senese ran first to unit 98. He says he banged twice and was about to kick the door when a woman holding a baby answered.
He charged in to help get others out and encountered a man on the second floor.
“He was getting water in a bucket to throw it on the fire and I just said, ‘It’s too late, we have to get out of here now!’”
In the end, Senese helped get a man, woman, and two children safely out.
He then ran next door to unit 100.
Through a slightly open door, he ran through the smoke and determined there was nobody inside.
But in actual fact, the four people there were - at the same time - escaping out another door.
One, Czeslaw Jodlowski, says he awoke to the panic of banging and smoke.
“About three o’clock in the morning, we don’t know what’s happening. We go outside and see fire, smoke.”
As Senese cleared unit 100, he looked up at the blaze.
“By the time I came out, it had grown probably 10 times in size. It just kept multiplying and multiplying.”
With the spread of the fire, he next headed back to unit 96 to make sure its residents got out.
In the end, that third unit suffered little visible damage.
Investigators go through the scene of a multi-unit townhouse fire in London, Ont. on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)
Investigators go through the scene of a multi-unit townhouse fire in London, Ont. on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)
London Fire Platoon Chief Colin Shewell says all residents are fortunate Senese saw the flames as witness reports suggest it began on the balcony.
Still, he says the fire and another on Madison Avenue in London Monday are a solid reminder to ensure smoke alarms and carbom monoxide detectors are powered and working correctly.
Fire inspectors and police are working on a cause, but Shewell says, at this point, it does not appear to be suspicious.
“For now there is nothing here to indicate anything out of the ordinary. It’s a routine investigation with our partners.”
Damage is estimated between $200,000 and $300,000.
It’s a difficult loss, but Shewell says not as difficult as what could have been.
“It’s a good news story here, neighbour helping neighbour and no injuries to our firefighters or anyone involved in this tragic situation.”
“(Senese) is amazing," a neighbour told CTV News off-camera, as many gathered to survey the damage Tuesday morning.
Senese says he only did “what anybody would have done.”
In total, the London Fire Department says eight people were able to safely escape the south London fire.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.