Firefighters dealt with a fire at a hostel above a pub on Seven Sisters Road in Tottenham.
Part of a laundry room on the first floor of a three-storey building was damaged by fire.
Twenty-two people left the premises without injury before the Brigade arrived.
The Brigade's Fire Investigators believe the fire was caused by a fault within a commercial tumble dryer.
The Brigade was called at 1729 and the fire was under control by 1757. Two fire crews from Tottenham Fire Station were at the scene.