Two people are fighting for life in hospital after a house fire in east London.
The London Fire Department says the blaze began shortly after 6pm at a multi-unit home on Egerton St, less than a block north of the Trafalgar and Hamilton intersection.
Assistant Deputy Fire Chief Jack Burt tells BlackburnNewsLondon.com that the injured people, a man and a woman, were in the basement unit of the home.
"We received reports of persons trapped," says Burt. "Upon arrival, crews entered the building. Once inside, conditions changed and they called mayday and then evacuate from the building. They were then able to get back into the building to rescue the two people trapped inside."
The man and woman were removed and rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Burt says one of the firefighters received minor injuries but no one else was hurt.
Burt says the home has two main floor units and a second floor unit in addition to the basement dwelling. Each received some degree of damage.
"There was smoke damage throughout the entire dwelling, major fire damage to the basement unit and some smoke and fire extension to the two first-floor units," says Burt.
As of 11pm, the area surrounding the scene was blocked off by London Police officers as well as firefighters.
The Ontario Fire Marshal has been contacted to help determine the cause of the fire.