Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were called to a fire within a ten-storey block of flats on Hebden Place in Lambeth.
Fire crews tackled a fire in an electrical intake room in a communal area on the fourth floor. The fire spread upwards and destroyed the electrical intake cupboards on every floor between the fourth and ninth floors. The fire also caused heavy smoke to spread across the affected floors.
A man and a woman were led to safety by fire crews from the eighth floor using fire escape hoods, and a child suffering the effects of smoke inhalation was rescued by firefighters from the eighth floor. Another woman was led to safety by fire crews from the seventh floor using a fire escape hood. All were treated at the scene by London Ambulance crews. There were no reports of further injuries.
Around fifty further residents were taken to a safe place by a local authority liaison officer.
The Brigade’s fire investigators believe the cause was accidental, involving an electrical fault.
The Brigade was called at 1936 and the fire was under control by 2213. Fire crews from Brixton, Battersea, Peckham, Soho, Clapham and Lambeth fire stations attended the scene.