Firefighters have issued a safety reminder after a pile of textiles which ignited is believed to have caused a fire in a launderette on Well Street in Hackney.
Part of the ground floor laundrette, which had flats above it, was damaged by the blaze. A person left the laundrette before the Brigade arrived. Thankfully there were no injuries.
The Brigade’s fire investigators believe the fire was accidental and caused by textiles in the staff-room self-heating and getting hot enough to ignite.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “Sometimes when materials are cleaned, put in tumble dryers and then folded and stacked, the heat from the tumble drying cannot escape.
“This can then result in it building to a high enough temperature where it smoulders and eventually ignites.
“If you are washing and then drying on a hot cycle, always use the cooling cycle on the tumble dryer so it cools down and allows the heat to dissipate properly, before stacking laundered items together.”
The Brigade was called at 0804 and the fire was under control by 0825. Two fire engines and around 10 firefighters from Homerton fire station attended the incident.