Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters attended a fire on River Road in Barking.
A row of shipping containers, containing bedding and linen, were damaged by fire. Part of a boxed van was also damaged. There were no reports of any injuries.
The Brigade's Control Officers received more than 10 calls about the fire.
The first call was received at 1402 and Control Officers mobilised crews from East Ham, Plaistow and Dagenham fire stations to the scene. A turntable ladder from Dagenham Fire Station also attended and was used as a water tower to extinguish the fire from above. The fire was extinguished by 1652.
The fire is believed to have been caused by self-heating textiles.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: "These types of fires often involve textiles that become contaminated with oil, most commonly linseed, massage and cooking oil on tea towels, tablecloths and chef whites. Make sure you check the manufacturer's cleaning recommendations of your textiles before washing.
"Sometimes when materials are cleaned and put in tumble dryers, the heat from the tumble drying cannot escape. This can result in a high enough temperature allowing it to build up to a point 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 allow the heat to dissipate properly, before stacking laundered items together.”