One person in custody after apartment building fire in North London

One person was taken into custody and an entire floor out of commission after apartment building fire in North London.

“London fire crews were alerted by multiple 911 calls to 349 Wharncliffe Road for an apartment fire with somebody trapped on the balcony,” said Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger of the London Fire Department.

“Our first engine arrived, within four minutes of notification and was able to successfully deploy ladders to rescue that person from the balcony. We have the fire under control on the third floor; we’ve got the building evacuated in and working with our partners to help support the evacuees.”

Some residents were able to shelter in place, but most evacuated the building. The third floor is out of commission for people going back in. Fire officials said smoke went up above the unit to higher floors, so firefighters are working to make sure everyone is safe.

Residents told CTV News this is the second fire in that same unit, which led them to believe that’s why the tenant was taken into custody.

“Our area of responsibility is the fire itself,” said Mosburger.

“We’ve contacted our fire prevention investigators to come in and determine the origin, cause, and circumstance of the fire. Fire at this time of the day is rather not normal with respect to this type of building. We have a lot of fire damage and smoke damage throughout, so our investigators will do their origin cause and get back to us with that information.”

Police arrested a 49-year-old man and have charged him with one count of arson with disregard for human life.