Four fire engines and 21 firefighters and officers were called to a shop fire on Aldborough Road South in Seven Kings this morning.
The whole of the ground floor of the building was damaged by the blaze.
Eight adults and four children left a flat above a shop before the Brigade arrived.
The cause of the fire is believed to be an incense stick.
The Brigade was called at 1134 and the fire is under control by 1223. Fire crews from Ilford, Hainault and Dagenham fire stations were at the scene.