An electrical fire that forced the evacuation of 5,000 people in central London is still burning underneath the pavement, and a key London artery remains closed.
Thousands were evacuated from Kingsway in Holborn on Wednesday when smoke was seen spewing out of an inspection cover.
“This has been a technically difficult incident to tackle,” said assistant commissioner Peter Cowup of the London fire brigade (LFB). “The reason that the fire is still burning is because the service tunnel is hard to reach.
“Although firefighters have been applying water through access points throughout the night, the complexity of the tunnel layout means that it will be some time until the fire is fully extinguished.”
Twenty firefighters and officers remained at the scene and local roads were still closed, but steady progress was being made to fully extinguish the fire by the LFB, the Metropolitan police and utility companies, he added.
Insp Neil Johnson, from the Met police, said it was vital to keep people out of the area so the fire brigade and utility companies could do their job. “The fire is still live in the subway. The problem at the moment is there is a gas pipe underneath and we are all in agreement that it is OK and if we can keep it contained it will be fine,” he told BBC London.
“I imagine this road will be closed a long time after this is finished because of damage the heat does to the road,” he said. “It will have to remain closed until a structural engineer examines it properly and either he or she says what work has to be done and that work is completed. This is not an overnight job.”
About 1,000 clients are still without power, while supply has been restored to about 2,000 others, according to UK Power Networks. “The gas is still burning under there and until we can gain access to that particular area we won’t understand what’s caused it and what we can do,” spokesman Matt Rudling said.
Apologising to customers, he added that emergency generators were being used to supply power to the area, while engineers attempted to connect some of the damaged cables to unaffected ones.
Commuters faced continuing disruption on Thursday as roads in the area remained closed. Kingsway and Waterloo bridge northbound were closed, and Southampton Row was closed at Vernon Place, Transport for London said. Holborn underground station is open, but nine bus routes were being diverted.
Due to a electrical cable fire, Kingsway is still closed both ways btwn Aldwych and High Holborn. Severe delays in the area. #Holborn
— TfL Traffic News (@TfLTrafficNews) April 2, 2015
Firefighters were called at about 12:30pm on Wednesday after an electrical fire sent thick black smoke billowing into the air. Ten fire engines and 70 firefighters were called to the scene in Kingsway, a busy north-south route through central London. The fire was brought under control at around 8.10pm.
When the fire was at its most intense, police officers closed Kingsway at both ends and advised motorists to avoid the area. Holborn underground station was also closed. Witnesses used social media to describe the disruption and share photos of the smoky scenes.
#kingswayfire smoke shrouds Holborn area in large electrical fire. pic.twitter.com/vaZvLuGVet
— John Furzer (@JFurzer) April 1, 2015
Judges, lawyers and staff at the nearby royal courts of justice on the Strand were among those evacuated. Onlookers reported problems with breathing and chaos in the area as those evacuated waited on the street and traffic began to pile up.
Major fire on Kingsway, police everywhere, smoke pouring out of underground vents. pic.twitter.com/fpvIshoBXQ
— Alice Chadfield (@Alicechadfield) April 1, 2015
Nicola Foxfield, 29, said: “It’s chaos and fire engines are coming from every direction and there are so many people around. Another witness said he struggled to breathe because of the smoke seeping through the drains as he walked along Aldwych, at the bottom of Kingsway.
He said: “I had just cycled over Waterloo bridge, and as I approached Kingsway, I saw a big crowd of people and smoke billowing towards me. The fire crews and police officers were beginning to cordon off the area. I was close enough to see thick black smoke puffing out of the drain grills and I struggled to breathe.”
The LFB said there had been no reports of injuries.
