Fire captain assaulted during response call in north London, Ont.

London fire captain assaulted during call A captain was assaulted while responding to a fire, but it took 45 minutes for LPS to respond to his call for help. Brent Lale reports.

A London Fire Department captain was assaulted by an unruly tenant during an overnight call Tuesday.

Crews responded to alarms ringing at 1182 Adelaide St. N. just before 2 a.m.

Ten minutes later, the captain was heard on radio requesting help from the London Police Service (LPS) due to a person described as “a big problem.”

Fire dispatch told the captain LPS were aware, but that “the call is in the queue.”

At around 2:30 a.m., 20 minutes after his first request for help, the frustrated fire captain spoke to dispatch and his chief via radio.

"We've had a physical assault,” said the captain. “We need police now. Chief, I've been punched in the head twice now, physically assaulted. We can't get police to even respond.”

London fire administration initially was willing to speak about the incident, but then told CTV News London they were referring the matter to police.

LPS did confirm they attended the building, but did not respond to CTV News London’s requests to talk on camera about the response time, or if any charges are being laid against the tenant.

LPS did mention however that the queue typically has nearly 200 calls.

This type of incident is occurring more often according to the London Professional Fire Fighters Association (LPFFA).

“It's very difficult for us to do our job for the people that call us that are need of help if we can’t because we're dealing with violence or violent citizens,” said Jason Timlick, president of the LPFFA.

“It's an unfortunate situation in the City of London. There seems to be an exponential increase in drug use, crime, mental illness, especially in the core. First responders are encountering it every day,” he explained.

Timlick said London Fire Department administration has policies and procedures if crews encounter aggressive or violent citizens and dangerous situations.

However he would like to see different training initiatives similar to other departments around the province.

“Hopefully fire administration will take a strong look at that,” said Timlick.

He added, “Hopefully the corporation will take a strong look at those initiatives from other fire departments and try to implement it especially with what happened this morning. Obviously we will rely on our brothers and sisters in blue to be able to respond and help us out when we call for help. If we're encounter these situations and from what I understand they did that so we’re thankful for that.”

Police did respond to the call, but sources told CTV News London it wasn't until close to 45 minutes after the initial call for help.