Woman dies from injuries 2 weeks after tent fire

A woman succumbed to burn injuries after a fire broke out in front of the Ark Aid Street Mission on Dundas Street in London, Ont. on April 5, 2023. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)

The Ark Aid Street Mission is in mourning after a woman who suffered serious burns during a fire in front of the agency’s headquarters earlier this month died from her injuries.

In the early morning hours of April 5, a woman and a male friend were sheltering under blankets and a tarp outside of the Ark Aid Street Mission’s headquarters on Dundas Street when a fire broke out.

The woman was identified by friends as “Olivia,” and over the weekend she succumbed to her injuries and died in the burn unit of Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital.

The woman had been sleeping in winter crash beds prior to the fire, but city funding for the temporary beds ended about a week before the fire.

In the wake of the news, Ark Aid’s executive director Sarah Campbell said she shares the grief of the community.