'I saw smoke coming from my neighbour's house': Quick 911 call saves multiple units in London, Ont.

The quick actions of a next-door neighbour potentially saved many people from being displaced from their homes in London, Ont. on Monday.

"I went out do errands and when I came back, I looked up at the front of my house and I could see black smoke coming out of my neighbor's house, so immediately called 911," says Tina Earl, who lives in a townhouse complex at 824 Dundalk Dr.

As instructed by the 911 operator, Earl went to the adjacent unit and knocked, but her neighbour wasn't home. She took her dog out, and contacted neighbours.Fire crews inspect a unit at 825 Dundalk Dr. in London, Ont. after a fire at the townhouse complex on Monday Dec. 20, 2021. (Brent Lale / CTV News)"Everybody was safe the fire department was here in what seemed like seconds," says Earl.Crews arrived and gained entry, while doing a search and rescue, before confirming no one was home.

"We're also able to put the fire out very quickly and now we're just dealing with some overhaul," says Scott Turnbull, a district chief with the London Fire Department.

"I think it was a piece of furniture at this point. These are smaller units, sometimes a little harder to get around with a fire hose and then all the gear they're wearing and again a great job done by all involved. Thankfully there's no extension of any damage to the neighbour's units, but there is a little bit of a smell. We've checked with our meters and we have no rating so it's the environment is safe."

Turnbull credits Earl with the quick call, which helped crews arrive quickly and limit damage.

"The scary part about the whole thing is like I live right next door it's like that would have been my entire life gone," says Earl, who is happy to be able to get back into her home. "I should have been at work this week but I'm on holidays this week for Christmas. So there's a reason that I was off this week and it was so hopefully stop this from happening."Fire crews inspect a unit at 825 Dundalk Dr. in London, Ont. after a fire at the townhouse complex on Monday Dec. 20, 2021. (Brent Lale / CTV News)She says the man who lives in the unit next door wasn't home because he goes to work out of town on a farm each morning. The managment team of the condo units was attempting to contact him.

"I do I feel very I feel very badly for him," says Earl of the man who has lived there for what she believed to be at least 20-25 years.

"I know he does go to his mother's for Christmas so hopefully he'll be able to stay there for a while until he gets the unit fixed. But I'm just glad he wasn't home when this happened because that could have been just much worse tragedy than what it is right now."

There is no confirmed cause of fire or damage estimate, but the unit is uninhabitable for the time being due to smoke damage.