Scores of firefighters backed by 20 fire engines have been tackling two separate blazes in south-east London, one of which has closed the Blackwall tunnel.
About 100 firefighters were dispatched to a fire in Greenwich’s Tunnel Avenue, where flames and thick black smoke rose into the air above local landmarks near the major commuting route, including the O2 Arena. One person, who suffered burns, was taken to hospital as a result of the blaze, which began on Monday morning and is expected to take until the evening to extinguish.
About two hours after the alarm about the Greenwich fire was raised, 72 firefighters were called to a blaze at a new block of flats on the high street in Erith where they rescued a woman from the building.
London fire brigade (LFB) said it received the first of more than 50 emergency calls about the Greenwich fire at about 11.45am on Monday and dispatched 15 fire engines from nine different stations to the scene.
@BBCBreaking fire right next to the #O2 pic.twitter.com/6J5un5u53K
— Charlie Langham (@charlieemmeline) August 8, 2016
Winston Douglas, the station manager at Islington fire station, said: “Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued a man who has been taken to hospital by ambulance. This is a large fire and the smoke could be seen from across London, meaning we received a large number of emergency calls. Firefighters will be at the scene for the rest of the day, and possibly into the evening.
“If you’re affected by smoke our advice is to keep doors and windows closed.”
Studio 338, a nightclub on the Greenwich Peninsula, is on fire. 70 firefighters, 10 engines. https://t.co/7imc92CF0H pic.twitter.com/hDdNJbeAjl
— Rob Price (@robaeprice) August 8, 2016
A large part of the ground floor and part of the first floor of the Studio 338 nightclub, one of the country’s biggest, were on fire. An industrial warehouse was completely alight and a scrap paper processing yard containing a number of outbuildings was partly alight, with 40 pallets of paper ablaze.
A London ambulance service (LAS) spokeswoman said they sent a single responder in a car, an ambulance crew, the hazardous area response team, two incident response officers and the air ambulance to the scene.
“We treated one patient at the scene for burns,” she said. “They were taken to hospital by London’s air ambulance. We remain on the scene.”
The firefighters’ job has been made more difficult by the presence of gas cylinders at the scene, which are at risk of exploding when exposed to heat. As a result a safety cordon has been set up around the site.
Huge fire #helicopter landing in the middle #London #Greenwich #blackwalltunnel pic.twitter.com/UVcWk31rio
— ªʐ (@Azmiah1) August 8, 2016
The LFB was called to the Erith fire at 1.35pm. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued a woman from the building who was treated by LAS. Ten fire engines from nine different stations were sent to the blaze, which damaged part of two flats on the fifth floor, a communal corridor and the roof of the building.
Firefighters rescued one woman from the flat fire in High Street #Erith https://t.co/P0NIblEfhN pic.twitter.com/QaEM7FsyhE
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) August 8, 2016
