The owner of the property at 131 Base Line Rd. W. in south London, Ont., says he was shocked when he heard that the empty house had been destroyed by an explosion on Wednesday afternoon.
Asif Sheikh has owned the property, along with two vacant adjacent lots, for just over two years and got a call from police shortly after the explosion informing him about what had happened, he said.
“I was just astonished. I could not imagine,” he said. “It’s a sad incident, but could have been much worse.. there was no loss of life.”
Firefighters at the scene of an explosion that destroyed a house on Base Line Road West in London, Ont., on Jul. 29, 2026. (Andrew Lupton/)
The explosion took place just before 1 p. m. Wednesday, obliterating the home and damaging a detached garage along with several cars nearby.
Residents in neighboring buildings reported feeling the shockwave from the blast, with one woman stating she saw the roof of the house shoot up ’40 feet.’
Emergency crews responded quickly with around five vehicles and 20 to 25 firefighters, according to London Deputy Fire Chief Gary Bridge.
The cause remains unknown as investigations continue. London police, fire officials, and representatives from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office were still present at the site Thursday afternoon.
A man was taken to hospital with critical injuries and remained in serious condition as of Thursday; it’s unclear whether he was inside or outside at that time.
The house was unoccupied when it exploded, and Sheikh noted that previous tenants moved out in May. After their departure, everything seemed fine during his inspection and a property management company had been overseeing it since then.
131 Base Line Rd. W. in July 2023. Asif Sheikh said he purchased the home just over two years ago. (Google Maps)
Although no one lived there anymore, natural gas service was still active; Enbridge Gas crews arrived on-site Wednesday to disconnect it according to information from the London Fire Department. The electricity connection for the property also remained active.
While investigators are still looking into what caused the explosion, Sheikh mentioned his first thought was that it might be related to gas.
<p"When a house is vacant," Bridge explained, "owners are encouraged to disconnect all utilities." However, Sheikh believes there are many reasons for keeping them running.
“Imagine it’s winter and there’s still water in the pipes; you need heat so gas might be necessary,” he said. “There could be security reasons too; perhaps there’s a sump pump requiring electricity.”
If a building stays vacant for over 60 days London’s Vacant Building By-law mandates owners make sure utilities are either disconnected or secured properly unless needed for safety or legal requirements.
Fire crews packing up after an explosion destroyed a home at 131 Base Line Rd. W. in south London on July 29, 2026. (Andrew Lupton/CBC)
Sheikh mentioned it has been an ongoing challenge dealing with homeless individuals camping on his three properties as they often set up small encampments specifically on those empty lots.
A vacant home used to stand on another lot at 129 Base Line Rd. W., but it had been demolished due to constant break-ins according to him. He adds that so far there hasn’t been any issues with people squatting inside 131 Base Line.
The fire department conducts routine monthly checks of vacant homes throughout the city ensuring they remain boarded up and that nobody is inside.
“If there appears to be somebody within,” Bridge stated, “we contact them and arrange for those properties to be boarded up so we can keep them safe.”
Fire officials were aware that this building was unoccupied and crews had previously responded for fire-related instances there,” he noted mentioning past interventions at 129 Base Line including one in April 2024.
Taking into account what happened here Sheikh commented it’s not really a big loss overall.
“It’s just cleanup really,” he said.
“The house didn’t hold much value anyway; we were planning on taking it down eventually.”
Sheikh hopes to develop all three lots but mentioned their project is currently postponed due “to unfavorable economic conditions.” City council approved zoning changes back in 2023 allowing construction of a new residential building standing fourteen stories tall.
