Last updated: 09/05/2024, 9:15 AM

Business centre fire - Bow

25/08/2023 18:04
Tower Hamlets
Fire at commercial property
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Fifteen fire engines and around 100 firefighters tackled a fire at a mixed-use building on Bow Road in Bow.

A large part of the roof of the seven-storey commercial and residential building was damaged by fire. Half of the flats on the fifth and sixth floors of the building were also damaged. Fifteen people left the building before the Brigade arrived. There were no reported injuries.

One of the Brigade's 64m turntable ladders and a 32m turntable ladder were deployed as water towers to tackle the flames from height and road closures were put in place to allow crews to work safely.

At the height of the fire, 123 calls were made to the Brigade's 999 Control centre alerting them to the blaze.

Assistant Commissioner for Operational Control and Resilience, Pat Goulbourne, said: "This was a challenging and complex fire but our crews worked quickly and tirelessly to restrict damage to homes and ensure that no one was hurt.

"Our Control Officers took 123 calls about this incident and responded quickly, with a fire engine on scene three minutes after the first emergency call was received.

"At the same time, we were also dealing with another significant fire elsewhere in London. However, our Control Officers are trained to manage our resources as emergencies occur, and appliances were strategically moved across London to ensure the affected areas had appropriate fire cover to allow us to continue to respond to emergencies."

The Brigade was called at 1804 and the fire was under control by 2048. Fire crews from Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Homerton, Shadwell, Islington, Plaistow, Shoreditch, Lewisham and surrounding fire stations attended the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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