Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters were called to a fire at a takeaway shop on High Street North in East Ham.
Part of the ground floor used as a takeaway restaurant and grocery shop was damaged by fire. Three women from a first-floor flat above the shop and two men from the shop left the building before the Brigade arrived. There were no reports of any injuries.
The Brigade’s 999 Control Officers took eight calls to the fire.
The fire is believed to have been caused by oil in a deep fat fryer igniting, which then spread up into the ducting.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “On arrival crews could see thick, black smoke coming from the front of the shop. There were road closures in place whilst firefighters worked to make the scene safe.
“Chip pans and cooking with hot oil can be really dangerous and the risk increases when you start frying food more than once. All it can take is for you to become distracted for a few seconds and your cooking oil can quickly go up in flames.
"We'd like to remind restaurant and takeaway owners to ensure they don't have dirty ducting. If you don't clean the ducting in your extraction system regularly, you're at a greater risk of ducting fires.
"You should also make sure you keep the hob, cooker hood and extractor fan clean too – built up fat and grease can ignite and cause a fire."
The Brigade was called at 1739 and the fire was under control by 1902. Fire crews from Walthamstow, Ilford, Leyton and Wennington fire stations attended the scene.