Fifteen fire engines and 97 firefighters and officers tackled a blaze in a discount store on Old Church Road in Chingford this evening (Wednesday, 23 August).
The whole of the ground floor, first floor and roof of the store were gutted by the fire and part of the roof of a neighbouring shop was also damaged. Sixteen people left flats adjacent to the building before the Brigade arrived. Thankfully there were no injuries.
During its early stages smoke from the fire was highly visible and our '999' Control officers took ten emergency calls.
Station Manager Danny Meakin who was at the scene said:
"The fire severely damaged the store, rooms above and the building's roof but crews worked incredibly hard to contain the fire and to stop it from spreading. They remained at the scene throughout the night damping down remaining pockets of fire."
The Brigade was called at 1854 and the fire was under control by 0154. Three fire engines, an aerial appliance and around 15 firefighters remained at the scene on Thursday morning (24 August) continuing to damp down the fire.
Crews from Chingford and surrounding fire stations attended the incident The cause of the fire is under investigation.