Another Massive Fire In London….

Sixty firefighters tackling massive blaze in central London

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:44 PM on 10th July 2009

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Sixty firefighters were this afternoon tackling a huge blaze in a bustling area of central London, which is sending vast plumes of smoke across the capital.

Black smoke billowed out of a four-storey office block in Dean Street, Soho and 50 office workers have been evacuated after the fire erupted around 2pm.

The fire is now thought to be under control but 75 per cent of the building has been destroyed and a large section of the street is cordoned off and likely to remain closed off for up to six hours.

Flames erupt out of the four-storey Future Capital building in Soho, Central London

A firefighter sprays water onto the building, under the shadow of the BT tower

Kensington fire station manager Andy Pike said no members of the public have been injured but two firefighters are being treated by paramedics for minor injuries.

‘We hope we can contain the fire to the building it is in now,’ he added.

The twelve fire engines summoned to the scene struggled to make their way through crowds gathering in the narrow streets and tourists clamouring to take pictures.

The blaze broke out in an office building belonging to Future Capital. It spread to the basement of the building, the fire brigade said, and some witnesses reported the fire had set a second building alight.

One man who was evacuated from the site said: ‘We’ve all been evacuated in the last hour. The fire started in an air conditioning duct.’

 

Twelve fire engines and sixty firefighters were called to Dean Street in Soho where a huge fire took hold of an office building

 

Plumes of smoke cover the sky over London’s National Gallery at Trafalgar Square in central London

Eyewitness Kayleigh Dugdale said the whole of Dean Street had been evacuated.

Nino Ripani, manager of nearby restaurant Signor Zilli’s, said: ‘It’s really shocking, it’s something that you don’t see every day. It’s really getting to serious stuff now – we can see the black bits coming out.’

Restaurant customers who had been dining outside were brought inside but the business had stayed open, he said.

Soho is a busy area of central London filled with shops, bars and restaurants and tourists in the area to get a glimpse of the flames.

It is the second blaze to hit Soho in as many days. Yesterday, fire crews were called to a building in Newport Place, housing a restaurant and offices. The fire damaged the basement of the five-storey building but no-one was hurt.

An amateur photographer captures the orange clouds rising from the fire as crews tackle the blaze

Plumes of smoke covered Soho, central London, this afternoon and spread across the capital

The plume of smoke could been seen from across London

Today another restaurant worker said curious onlookers were taking photos of the fire with their mobile phones.

General manager of the Couch bar, Laura Carr, said: ‘That end of the street is sectioned off and there are fire trucks there. I think it’s spread to the next building, I’m not sure.

‘There are lots of people hanging around and just watching, and there would normally be lots of people around at this time anyway.

‘We are trading as normal at the moment and will wait to see if there are any further instructions. We’re just playing it by ear.’

Las Iguanas restaurant twittered followers to say: ‘We’ve had to close Las Iguanas in Dean St Soho temporarily due to the fire up the road, we’ll let you know when we’re back to normal ‘

Musician David McAlmont was among the crowd gathered at the edge of a cordon thrown up by firefighters around 3pm.

He said: ‘I’m supposed to be playing a gig tonight at the Pizza Express in Dean Street so I don’t know how this will affect it.

‘I saw the smoke from St Martin’s Lane and followed it all the way here. It was only then that I realised what was happening.’

A twitterer captures the black plumes of smoke virtually eclipsing the sun as they  billow out of the office block

Firefighters struggled to reach the blaze down the narrow streets of Soho. The streets were packed with office workers, shoppers and tourists

The building is occupied by Future Capital Partners Limited, a financial products company which employs around 35 people.

It has helped arrange funding for a number of major film companies and high street banks including Barclays, HSBC, HBOS. It has raised more than £6 billion of investment between 2000 and 2009.

The building was first employed as a house for James Hamilton, seventh Earl of Abercorn, a Fellow of the Royal Society and author of a work on magnetism in the mid 1700s.

It was also the home of the Earl of Bathurst, a home for women working in the Army until 1801 and then housed poor children removed from the workhouse. It was also a school for industry, before being taken over for business in 1810.

The early Georgian building on Dean Street, as it was before the fire, had historical value