Fire in London, Ontario, Destroys Businesses

The Canada Day fireworks in London, Ontario were dampened by another type of fire. Eighteen businesses were damaged or destroyed in a fire at 1700 Hyde Park road, a strip mall in the city’s West End. The fire started behind Porcino’s Italian restaurant, and was discovered by an employee at around 6:30 pm on Thursday. Millions of dollars in damage was done to the mostly small and family owned businesses in the plaza. By the time the dust settles many families will have completely lost their livelihoods. Porcino’s and the rest of the plaza were evacuated before the fire could spread to the building, but once it did it spread quickly to adjacent businesses.

Corey Short, an off duty firefighter, was in the neighbourhood and responded immediately to the fire. The first on the scene, he stated that the fire was fully involved by the time he arrived, meaning that the fire crews could not access the inside of the building until water streams were directed into it. A relatively small but extremely hot fire, the heat of the flames could be felt around 100 meters away.

Although less than a day has passed between the extinguishing of the fire and the time of writing, the community has already responded. London City Councillor Josh Morgan, whose ward includes Hyde Park Road, has said that he plans to meet with the business owners as soon as possible.