A ceiling fell in on London firefighters battling side by side house fires in east London Tuesday afternoon.
Crews were called to 25 and 27 Glass Ave. just before 1pm to find both homes on fire.
"There were flames shooting from both houses high into the air, heavy black smoke, lots of work for both sets of crews. They worked very diligent. It was a stubborn fire in the attic space of number 27 and lots of fire in the back," said Platoon Chief Al Braatz, who divided firefighters into two crews -- one for 25 Glass Ave, the other for the neighbouring home.
Nearly a dozen fire trucks were on scene battling the fires, which Braatz said were "structural."
"When a fire goes structural that's when collapses and things like that can occur. We did have a ceiling fall in on engine six. They were up on the second floor, working the attic space and the ceiling came in on them," said Braatz. "No one was hurt. They handled it very well. They re-grouped and their protective equipment took care of them. It was drywall and wet drywall that came down."
A man and his dog escaped unharmed from one of the homes before emergency crews arrived, the other house was empty at the time.
Damage is said to be extensive, although an estimate has not yet been provided. Fire prevention officers were on scene Tuesday afternoon, working to determine the cause of the fires.
Neighbour Maida Huggett was painting her front door when she spotted the blaze.
"I saw the smoke and ran down to make sure everyone was out of the red brick house," said Huggett. "He was coming out the front door with his dog and the flames were really high and the wind blew. Then the deck [at 25 Glass Ave.] caught fire and it took off from there."
Huggett has lived beside 25 Glass Ave. for a year and said it was very scary to see such destruction so close to home. She added people on the street are friendly and good neighbours.
"I am going to check on [my next door neighbour], make sure she is ok and see if she needs a place to stay," said Huggett.
