A former tenant says he wasn’t the only person living inside the boarded-up apartment building at 745 Dundas St. after it was damaged by a deadly fire this summer, and where another significant blaze broke out early Sunday morning. His story suggests growing desperation among homeless Londoners to get indoors, and the need for more shelters that allow pets. David, a 47-year-old Londoner, tells CTV News he rented an apartment on the main floor of the 13-unit building until the deadly fire that killed a local woman on July 17. After the fire, he was unwilling to give up his three cats when offered space in a homeless shelter, so he resorted to using a poorly secured side window to return to his apartment. “I’ve had to squat here with my cats,” David explained a day after the second fire in four months. “Yesterday, at around 6:30 in the morning, there was an explosion. (It) was just below my apartment.” He believes someone was using a torch and propane tank to illegally cut copper pipes from the basement. Two of his cats died in the fire, the third is temporarily staying with a friend. David says he will not be returning inside the building because of the overwhelming odour. Devastated, he struggled to hold back tears while describing his situation, “I can’t go anywhere. I’m just on the streets now. I have nowhere to go. No family left. And now my cats are gone. That’s all I had.” Remarkably, David says he wasn’t alone living in the fire-damaged building that had a construction fend surrounding it and plywood covering the doors and windows. According to him, there were three other people staying inside virtually every night. Neighbour Nicholas Jeffery believes city hall should have done more to prevent people, including David, from being able to regain access to the building. “They break-in these windows,” Jeffrey said. “It’s dangerous. (The building) could collapse.” In response to the most recent fire, the City of London has issued an Order against the owner of the building, Radium-1 Development Ltd. of Scarborough, demanding a decision in 14 days to either demolish or repair the building. Specifically it requires: In October, CTV News obtained fire inspection documents that identified 13 Ontario Fire Code violations at 745 Dundas St. since the beginning of 2025. At the time, Yaso Somalingam, CEO of Radium-1 Development Ltd. said all of the deficiencies had been resolved prior to the July 17 fire that killed a 29-year-old woman and critically injured two other people. “I did everything!” Somalingam said in October. “I did work with the city. I work with the fire department.” So far, the London Fire Department has not determined the cause of the fire on Sunday morning. The Order issued by city hall described extensive interior and structural damage.
