One person has been taken to hospital in critical condition after a vacant house exploded at 131 Base Line Rd. W. in London, Ont., on Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after 1 p.m., neighbours called 911 to report a powerful blast that shook buildings on the residential street lined with apartment buildings. Ryan Mason lives across the road and looked out his window when he heard the noise, “A split second, the house was just up in the air. And by the time it came down, there was still rubble falling, hitting my window. It was glass everywhere!” “I saw a guy, right after it happened, a guy crawled out of the rubble,” Ryan says about the immediate aftermath, “He came out from in the corner [of the house] and went into the parking lot. But he seemed to be, you know, shaken up, obviously went through the house explosion.” “I was standing in my kitchen, and I just heard an explosion. I actually thought it might have been an earthquake, and my entire house shook!” said Kim Taylor who lives nearby. Taylor added there had been people seen recently around the vacant house, “I think it had maybe been abandoned recently. There has been a lot of homeless people camping out nearby, so, I think it was empty.” “I can confirm that one person has been transported to hospital and is in critical condition,” explained Chief Gary Bridge of the London Fire Department. He is unsure if the person was inside or outside the house when the explosion occurred. Chief Bridge describes how the force of the blast sent pieces of the home in all directions, “So we have a significant debris field here. Around this area has been cordoned off. The only exposed building that has been significantly damaged is the garage that’s located behind the home.” Insp. Doug Brown with the London Police Service says its too early to determine if a criminal investigation will be launched, “We are going to work with Chief Bridge and his people to determine whose investigation it is. At this point, it’s so new, that I couldn’t answer that.” The vacant house was known to London fire. “This is a vacant building that is inspected on a monthly basis by fire crews. And the cause of this fire is currently under investigation. We will be contacting that fire marshal to assist in this investigation, along with working with our partner agency, the London Police Services,” explained Bridge. A planning application sign installed by the City of London on the front lawn shows plans to build a highrise apartment building on the site. While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, Bridge says Enbridge was called to turn off the gas to the house.
