Man uses sheet and rappels from 5th floor balcony to escape London, Ont. apartment fire

An apartment fire saw someone rappel off their balcony, while two others needed an aerial rescue. CTV London's Brent Lale has the details.

Just prior to flames raging in his fifth-floor apartment, a man tied a sheet to his balcony and rappelled down one story to safety.

“The fire alarm went off, so we were getting our clothes ready and then I saw a piece of fabric come over the balcony,” said Brenda De Coste, who lives in the apartment below on the fourth floor.

“Then I said, ‘Somebody’s trying to get over the balcony!’ I went outside and I saw this man with his feet on our ledge. He couldn’t get down any further, so I helped him down, and he come through our apartment,” she continued.

The man didn’t have shoes or a top on, so De Coste gave him some clothes to put on and exited the apartment.

The fire started just after 10 a.m. at 1585 Ernest Ave. A few minutes later, the unit was fully engulfed in flames.

“He would have had to jump,” said De Coste. “He managed to get on to our balcony. We asked if there was anybody else there. He said he thought his girlfriend had gotten out the front door.”

London fire, along with EMS and police were all there quickly.

“Crews attended and were met with heavy smoke and heavy flame,” said Platoon Chief Colin Shewell of the London Fire Department. “We rescued one individual from near the unit. Aerial operations were called into play and were able to rescue two individuals from the apartment adjacent to the fire.”

A married couple were in the apartment right next to the one on fire on the fifth floor. The woman is in a wheelchair, so she was trapped, and London fire had to use the basket to bring her down to safety. Once she was on the ground, the aerial truck got the man.

He did not speak much English, but told CTV News he was thankful they were rescued.

“We were working with coordinated activities at the same time,” said Shewell. “We were doing an aggressive offensive attack as well as an exterior rescue at the same time.”

Cab driver Hassan Chouman was parked outside the building and witnessed the entire sequence of events.

“We spotted smoke coming out the front of the building and he tried to jump,” said Chouman, referring to the man stuck in the burning apartment. “He was yelling at the woman to come down and finally when she doesn’t come out, he decided to go by himself. He put that piece of cloth there, and he jumped down to the floor under. I didn’t think that cloth was going to hold him, and he might fall all the way down, but he was lucky.”

According to London fire, due to significant damage, the cause has been listed as undetermined, but the origin was int he kitchen area.

“One person was transported to hospital with undisclosed injuries and fire crews are ventilating. We’ve called Emergency Management London to come in, as well as our partners at Red Cross. We also have London Transit to provide shelter and, determine next steps for some of the individuals in this apartment building,” explained Shewell.

Within everything happening very quickly, Chouman still couldn’t believe what he witnessed.

“It was something you don’t see happen every day.”