Eight fire engines attended a fire in a 22-storey tower block in Swiss Cottage, North West London, which left one flat gutted and caused a further 130 residents to be evacuated.
The fire broke out at around 2200 on Monday night in a flat on the 17th floor. Around 40 officers attended the scene and assisted in the evacuation of residents to a nearby community centre.
Station manager Rod Horton, who was at the scene, said crews worked extremely hard to get the fire under control and to confine the fire to just one flat on the 17th floor.
“This was a big block of flats and at this time of night a lot of people were inside the building. Thankfully no-one was injured.
“The cause of the fire was accidental and is believed to have been caused by a candle setting alight some papers. There were a huge amount of papers, magazines and books stored in the flat. People should try to avoid storing large amounts of this sort of material as it increases the chances of having a fire in the first place and intensifies the spread of fire if one does occur.”
999 control officers received over 20 emergency calls about the incident which was brought under control in just over three hours, by 0127.
