When the upper unit of a house in downtown London, Ont. caught fire at approximately 7:40 a.m. Saturday morning, the two young men had nowhere to go, but out the back window.
“The guys woke up to a fire on their front deck there,” said neighbour Chris Mosher. “They had to jump out the back window, two stories in their underwear.”
CTV News London spoke off camera to one of the young men from the GTA who lives upstairs. He said he initially didn’t believe what was happening, but when he did, he had no time to grab anything.
Downstairs, Michael Ritchie-Dickinson and his Mill Street roommates were sleeping when they learned the upstairs was on fire.
“We woke up to someone banging on our window,” recalled Ritchie-Dickinson. “We saw orange, got dressed, went outside and the top floor was engulfed in flames. We only had time to get dressed, grab my phone and that’s it.”
Two young men had to jump out this second story window in their underwear after fire ripped through their downtown London, Ont. home on the morning of Jan. 20, 2024 (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
Neither of the young men in the upper unit were injured, but their entire home is gutted.
“It was a working fire with flames venting from second story,” said Platoon Chief Kirk Loveland of the London Fire Department. “Crews attacked on offensive strategy.”
At the time of the blaze, the temperature was around – 13 C. That made it a little more complicated for the fire crews.
“It gets slippery, we spray water with ice conditions and everything is more treacherous because you don’t have great footing,” explained Loveland. “More importantly, we have to decontaminate them when they come out by spraying them with water which turns to ice. Their equipment gets cold and icy making it difficulty for firefighters.”
Three people were forced to escape from their home in downtown London, Ont. when it caught fire early morning on Jan 20, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
The water from the hoses also turned to ice on Mill Street, meaning the city had to come salt the road.
The lower level unit at 187 Mill St. suffered water damage. Fire has now turned off the power to the home, so the three young men will temporarily be in need of housing.
The three tenants upstairs won’t be returning home as their unit is no longer livable.
Ritchie-Dickinson said everyone that lives in the home is in disbelief, especially his buddies upstairs.
“They seemed out of it when we talked to them,” he said. “They are fine, and I’m just glad everyone is OK.”
Platoon Chief Kirk Loveland of the London Fire Department speaks via phone to one of the tenants of 187 Mill St., which caught fire on Jan. 20, 2024 in London, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
https://london.ctvnews.ca/jumped-two-stories-in-my-underwear-students-escape-house-fire-in-frigid-downtown-london-ont-1.6735066
