Twenty fire engines and around 120 firefighters and officers battled a large blaze in industrial units on Magnet Road (near East Lane) in Wembley HA9 for more than 17 hours. Four aerial ladder platforms were also used to fight the fire from above.
The fire left the ground floor of the range of two storey units badly damaged as well as the whole of the building's first floor and roof. The units contained a number of businesses including a baker's, a packaging unit, a car workshop and tanning studio, among others. A van was also damaged in the blaze and one man was led to safety from the ground floor by breathing apparatus crews.
Group Manager Graham Coles who was at the scene said:
"Crews worked tirelessly through one of the coldest nights of the year to fight this blaze and eventually brought the fire under control early on Tuesday afternoon. Due to the complex structure of the building and the various individual hazards posed by the different businesses in each unit this was a protracted incident and crews spent several days damping down remaining pockets of fire."
The Brigade was called at 2047 on Monday evening and the fire was under control by 1419 on Tuesday. Crews from Wembley, Northolt, Willesden, Park Royal, Stanmore and Hillingdon fire stations attended the incident. Crews spent several days damping down the fire before handing the site back to its owners on Friday afternoon.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.