Investigation on hold: Cause of blaze at former LPH still undetermined

The City of London, Ont. and fire officials said it will be some time before they know whether a building that burned down on the grounds of the former London Psychiatric Hospital over the weekend can be saved.

On Monday, crews were back dousing hot spots at the former recreation centre, according to London Fire Department Platoon Chief Kirk Loveland.

“Could be some spot fires from some of the debris still in the basement that may, with this wind, spark up again,” said Loveland. “So we just come in and hit those hot spots.”

Fencing has gone up around the site, and private security is close at hand.

The building, now a shell of brick with archway type openings for windows, looks like a burned out hollow shell.

Crews were called to the property on Highbury Avenue North early Saturday evening.

They fought the blaze through the night, facing great challenges because of the lack of onsite water.

With the hydrants long ago decommissioned, crews had to fetch water from Highbury Avenue and shuttle it in to the sprawling site by tanker truck.

A photo taken on March 20, 2023, showing damage done to the recreation building at the former London Psychiatric Hospital after a fire broke out on March 18, 2023. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

There’s no word on how or where in the building the fire started, and it could be some time before investigators can make any determinations.

Loveland said the investigation is on hold until an engineer can examine the site for structural integrity.

“The investigation is on hold until we can get people inside the building. We can’t get people in the building until we can determine either it’s structurally sound, or parts have to come down. Then we can get in and do some more digging, and having a look around,” said Loveland.

The province sold the property to developer Old Oak Properties in 2019.

It’s been slated for re-development for upwards of two-thousand housing units, according to London city council Planning and Environment Committee Chair Steve Lehman.

He said he’s hoping the weekend fire hasn’t stalled any plans.

“I’m certain all parties want to move forward as quickly as possible so I do not anticipate a delay in this, because if there was I’d push against it, because as I said, housing is critical, and this project in the east end I think is so important on so many levels,” said Lehman.

A photo taken on March 20, 2023, showing damage done to the recreation building at the former London Psychiatric Hospital after a fire broke out on March 18, 2023. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

In a statement to CTV News, Old Oak Properties said it’s working with the fire department to ensure the safety of the site.

In the statement, Vice President of Operations Robert Bierbaum said “Old Oak values the history of this site, since acquiring the land we have put in place both physical measures to secure all historic buildings, and live 24/7 monitoring. This live monitoring allowed us to quickly notify the London Fire Department at the first signs of a fire. Old Oak is committed to working with the municipality to ensure this building and any others of historic importance are incorporated with any future development in a way that pays respect to its heritage.”

In the meantime, Lehman said the property would have to be re-examined for its heritage value.

“After the fire professionals do their job, there will probably be a heritage reassessment. Heritage folks will have to look and see what’s there and make recommendations to city hall,” added Lehman.