One person in custody after apartment building fire in North London
'London fire crews were alerted by multiple 911 calls to 349 Wharncliffe Road for an apartment fire with somebody trapped on the balcony,' said Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger of the London Fire Department.
'Our first engine arrived, within four minutes of notification and was able to successfully deploy ladders to rescue that person from the balcony. We have the fire under control on the third floor; we've got the building evacuated in and working with our partners to help support the evacuees.'
Wharncliffe fire Aug. 4
London firefighters had to rescue a person from a balcony on the third floor after a fire at 349 Wharncliffe Road North Monday morning (Brent Lale/CTV London)
Some residents were able to shelter in place, but most evacuated the building. The third floor is out of commission for people going back in. Fire officials said smoke went up above the unit to higher floors, so firefighters are working to make sure everyone is safe.
Residents told CTV News this is the second fire in that same unit, which led them to believe that's why the tenant was taken into custody.
Wharncliffe fire Aug. 4
London Fire fighters had to rescue a person from a balcony on the third floor after a fire at 349 Wharncliffe Rd. North Monday morning (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London) A man was taken into custody by London Police after a fire in his unit at 349 Wharncliffe Road North Monday morning. (Brent Lale/CTV London)
'Our area of responsibility is the fire itself,' said Mosburger.
'We've contacted our fire prevention investigators to come in and determine the origin, cause, and circumstance of the fire. Fire at this time of the day is rather not normal with respect to this type of building. We have a lot of fire damage and smoke damage throughout, so our investigators will do their origin cause and get back to us with that information.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
White nationalists are posting pictures from the London area. Here are the locations
A white supremacist group is growing its ranks in the London and St. Thomas areas of southwestern Ontario with the location of several meeting places now identified by CBC News. Nationalist-13 has held several meetings and anti-immigration protests recently. It's based in Hamilton, and is what's known as an "active club." Active clubs are part of a neo-Nazi network that has grown globally, moving from online forums into real-world communities, including some in southwestern Ontario. The group held a rally in front of London's city hall in late June, during which masked members held up banners with slogans reading "mass deportations now," and "no blood for Israel". Following that protest, members posted a photograph with their faces digitally obscured by the Totenkopf, the grinning death mask used by the Nazi SS. The photograph is captioned "Nationalist-13 in London, Ontario, Canada." CBC's visual investigation team looked at the picture, and matched the location to the Flying J truck stop on Highbury Avenue, south of the 401. The group is holding their own Nationalist-13 flag, and the Red Ensign flag which was the precursor to the maple leaf. White nationalists call it Canada's "true" flag, representing the country before they say it was spoiled by immigrants. In a second photograph posted to the group's Telegram account on May 30, two men are standing beside a punching bag in a park at night. "Members of NS13's Youth Division training during the weekday. Training is a daily pursuit, not a weekend activity," the post reads. By matching the background of the photo to parks in the southwest, CBC's visual investigation team traced the setting of the photo to Marshall Field Lakeside Pavillion in St. Thomas's Pinafore Park. It's part of ongoing work, in collaboration with The Fifth Estate, that shows how groups that experts consider an extremist threat are recruiting and meeting in plain sight. They bill themselves as defenders of the country's European roots, and train, according to experts, for what they believe to be an upcoming race war. "It's deeply disturbing and troubling," said Sunil Gurmukh, a human rights lawyer and Western University assistant professor who teaches courses on hate speech, and researches hate crimes. "The youth themselves, they're often more vulnerable and impressionable. That's extremely troubling," he said. As the group works to recruit more people, many of their online posts ask like-minded men "of European folk" to contact them. One message in the group's Telegram channel praises a group of supposedly unaffiliated men who, while obscuring their faces, displayed a banner reading "mass deportations now" at London's White Oaks Mall in December. According to Gurmukh and other experts on extremism, the advent of social media has made it ever-easier for like-minded people to connect, and for these types of groups to grow. But their tendency to hide their identities shows their ideas are still far from being widely accepted, he said. "They're cowards. If they truly believe what they're spreading, then they should deal with any consequences," Gurmukh said. "To me, when you look at the [SS symbol] they use to obscure their faces, with signs calling for mass deportation and the eradication of Jewish people, that amounts to criminal hate." Police aware of groups On Thursday, a Windsor man was found guilty for participating in the activities of a terrorist group when he tried to join the far-right Atomwaffen Division, also called the National Socialist Order or the National Socialist Resistance Front. The Canadian government has considered it a terrorist organization since 2021. The Nationalist-13 group does not have that designation. CBC News contacted police in London and St. Thomas about the white supremacist groups meeting in their cities, and at a time when municipalities are committing thousands of dollars to anti-hate campaigns. London received $500,000 from the province for it's 'Stop Tolerhating' campaign last year. The London Police Service said in a statement that it's "aware of concerns related to self-proclaimed white nationalist groups operating in the region," and that all allegations of criminal offences are investigated. The St. Thomas Police Service provided a statement echoing that, adding that "participation in a group or club, including using public or private facilities for training purposes is not, in itself, a criminal offence." In a previous investigation, the visual investigations unit found groups were conducting combat training in martial arts studios and in other parks in southern Ontario. In St. Thomas, people enjoying the park near Marshall Field Lakeside Pavillion said they were shocked and disappointed to hear of the group's presence in an area frequented by children and families.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Teenager from Quebec arrested in motor vehicle theft from Woolwich Township
A Toyota vehicle logo is pictured on a car at an automotive dealership in Ottawa on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick A teenager from Quebec has been charged in a motor vehicle theft and an attempted theft in Woolwich Township. The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) said an officer was patrolling in the Barnswallow Drive and Whippoorwill Drive area on Thursday around 4:30 a.m. when they saw a grey Toyota Tundra speeding along the street. Due to public safety concerns, the officer did not pursue the driver. Investigators determined the truck has been stolen from a home on Barnswallow Drive and linked the incident to the attempted theft of a Toyota Sequoia on Nightingale Crescent around 3:10 a.m. Officers later spotted the stolen Toyota Tundra on Highway 8 around 4:55 a.m. They said they saw the driver pull onto the eastbound lanes of Highway 401. WRPS worked with members of the Ontario Provincial Police to stop the driver just east of Highway 6. The driver, a 16-year-old from Quebec, was arrested and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, attempted theft of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property over $5,000 and possession of a device for vehicle theft.
National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
Windsor man, 22, found guilty of supporting white-supremacist terrorist group
A Windsor judge on Thursday convicted a local man on a rare terrorism-related charge, finding him guilty of offering his 'skill and expertise' to a violent, extremist white-supremacy group listed in Canada as a terrorist entity. Article content Seth Bertrand, now 22 but only 18 at the time he filed an online application in 2021 to join the since-disbanded Atomwaffen Division, faces up to 10 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October. Article content Article content Article content 'I'll certainly be arguing to keep my client out of jail,' defence lawyer Bobby Russon told reporters after Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia delivered her hour-long decision. Article content The verdict came as 'no shock' to him or his client, he said. But Russon insists the hateful views Bertrand once espoused as a teenager are in the past. Article content Bertrand was arrested in 2022 following an elaborate RCMP-led sting that included the use of undercover officers who gained their target's trust by posing as like-minded individuals. In his online application to join Atomwaffen, later rebranded as National Socialist Order, Bertrand wrote of a 'beautiful' future following a race war in which the white race wins and establishes an ethnocentric, heterosexual nation without gay people, Blacks, Jews and Hispanics: 'They are the enemy.' Article content Article content While not charged with any specific act of terrorism, Justice Carroccia referred to the 'preventative purpose of the legislation' that makes it a crime for directly or indirectly 'enhancing the ability of the terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity.' Article content The judge referred to Bertrand 'boasting' to the group of previous hateful mischief acts in Windsor for which he would be convicted, including targeting the home and vehicle of a married gay couple and vandalizing the Windsor office of a trans support group. Article content Bertrand, using his high school computer account, said in his application he had 'already proven myself worthy' by such acts, citing his acts of vandalism and the resulting news media attention. Asked by the recruiters what he could contribute to the organization, the former cadet said he had military skills — including 'Russian fighting techniques' — and that he was a self-taught auto mechanic. If imprisoned for his previous criminal mischief, he said he would use his time behind bars recruiting for the cause. Article content An idiot, not a terrorist Article content During the trial, the defence conceded Bertrand's views on minorities might have been 'problematic' and even 'deplorable,' but Russon argued his young client was 'an idiot, not a terrorist.'
