Forest Hill fire: 100 firefighters tackle blaze in shop and flats
About 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines were called after a blaze took hold at a shop and flats.
It took crews three hours to get the fire under control. The building includes a skiing and snowboarding store on the ground floor and flats above it.
Part of the ground floor shop and single-storey workshop at the rear of the store remained alight early on Friday morning. Around 15 people were evacuated from surrounding buildings and there have been no reports of injuries.
Videos taken by eyewitnesses captured tall, bright flames and billowing smoke near buildings. At the moment the cause of the fire is not known.
An image posted on social media by the LFB showed firefighters outside skiing and snowboarding store Finches Emporium.
The LFB received the first of 49 calls at around 6.30pm on Thursday, and as of 9.45pm parts of the building’s ground, first and second floors remained alight along with part of a single-storey workshop at the back of the shop.
The fire service urged people to avoid the area and warned of transport disruption. It happened in Perry Vale, Forest Hill in south-east London.
Station commander Anthony Lewis said last night: “This will be a protracted incident, with crews working through the night to fully extinguish this fire. We’re advising people in the local area to continue to keep windows and doors closed due to smoke travel. A 25-metre cordon is currently in place and the public are advised to avoid the area at this time.
“Significant traffic disruption can be expected in the Forest Hill area, including in the A205 South Circular Road. Rail services via Forest Hill station are also being affected as a result of this fire.”
A 32m turntable ladder was also used as a water tower to extinguish the fire from above.