New Canadians displaced after fire destroys east London townhome

No injuries were reported, but fire destroyed a townhouse on Bentley Drive in Northeast London, Ont. on Friday Dec. 20, 2024 (Source: London Fire Department)

A family of new Canadians from Nigeria are looking for a new home just before Christmas.

Fire destroyed their townhome on Bentley Drive in northeast London, Ont. Friday night.

“Fire crews got on scene early with London Fire Station 7 only being a block and a half away,” says Chief Brent Shea of the London Fire Department.

“There was smoke and a large amount of fire in the front of the building upon arrival. They applied water from outside and made entry. Everyone had already self-extricated from the structure.”

No one was injured, and the grandparents - who were home at the time - saw the wall of flame going up and were able to get themselves and the children out of the building.

Chief Shea says the home is destroyed and unliveable.

“At this time, the cause appears to be light, cheap, plastic curtains,” says Shea.

“They were on either side of the window or maybe even covering the window a little bit, but also draped down to a baseboard heater right in front of that window. To add insult to injury, there was a couch backed up against the wall as well.”

He says the drapes caught fire and dripped into the heater, and the polymer or polyester-based plastic lit the couch.

He wants to make sure residents know that some products can be very flammable.

“With so many of our consumer products being plastic or polyester based, fires build so quickly,” adds Shea.

“It's so important to make sure we have working smoke detectors and CO detectors in our homes.”