Plume of smoke visible for miles as 15 fire engines attend site in Bow, where no casualties have yet been reported
Thick black smoke billowed into the sky on Friday evening when a huge fire broke out in east London. About 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at a business centre with flats in Fairfield Road in Bow.
The London fire brigade (LFB) described it as a “very visible fire” and said most of the roof of the six-storey building was alight. The cause of the fire is not yet known and there were no reports of injuries.
Crowds of onlookers gathered close to the building as 15 fire engines arrived at the scene. At around 9pm, the LFB said the incident was under control.
LFB said: “Fifteen fire engines and around 100 firefighters were called to a fire at a business centre with dwellings above on Fairfield Road in Bow.
“Part of the roof was destroyed by fire in the seven-floored building. Two of the Brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders were deployed as water towers to tackle the flames from height.
“At the height of the fire, 122 calls were made to the Brigade’s 999 Control centre alerting them to the blaze.
Fire crews from Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Homerton, Shadwell, Islington, Plaistow, Shoreditch, Lewisham and surrounding fire stations were in attendance. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police said: “Police were called at approximately 1800 hrs on Friday 25 August to reports of a fire at flats in Fairfield Road, E3.
“London fire brigade are on scene and dealing with the blaze. No reports of any injuries. Cordons and road closures remain in place around the scene.”
A resident of the fire-hit building described seeing smoke coming from the roof of the homes adjacent to his flat.
He told the PA news agency: “I was going to run myself a bath and I came back downstairs and looked out of the window and saw loads of smoke then realised, ‘Oh my God, it’s our building that’s on fire.’
“The flats at the top are two floors. I saw people through the windows as the fire was going on. The fire alarm wasn’t going off – they had absolutely no idea. The first thing I did was call the fire service, then I ran downstairs to make sure that the building was evacuated and told the fire warden the flats hadn’t been evacuated.
“It was quite clear the fire was coming from the roof – it wasn’t coming from the flats. I ran back upstairs and grabbed my bag, then ran down my corridor and banged on the doors shouting, ‘Fire!’”