The London Fire Brigade were called out to a roof fire at a block of flats on Creek Road in Deptford yesterday (26 April)
More than 100 firefighters and 20 fire engines were called to control the roof fire, battling the blaze until the early hours of Wednesday (27 April) morning.
Construction work underway at time of roof fire
Building work was taking place on the block of flats at the time.
Station commander Ian Smith, of the London Fire Brigade, said: “This is an intense fire located in the roof of the building and fire crews are working hard in challenging conditions.
“There is a lot of smoke from the incident and we’d ask local residents to close their doors and windows.”
Around 13 residents evacuated the flaming building before the Brigade arrived and there were no reports of any injuries.
We now have 20 fire engines and around 120 firefighters dealing with the roof fire in #Deptford. There is a lot of smoke in the local area so we’d ask residents to close their doors and windows https://t.co/VWf0OpMbxH https://t.co/yoVePNqMSk
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) April 26, 2022
Roof was destroyed and external fascia damaged
The roof of the building was destroyed the external fascia was damaged. The Fire Brigade described the fire as ‘exceptionally challenging’ due to the fire being behind voids and difficult to access.
The #Deptford roof fire was exceptionally challenging due to the fire being behind voids and difficult to access. The fire was declared under control before 1am this morning. Crews remain on the scene damping down hot spots https://t.co/VWf0OpMbxH https://t.co/bWHqas26yU
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) April 27, 2022
The fire was located behind a number of voids making it difficult to access
Group commander Richard Tapp, who was at the scene, said: “This was an intense fire located in the roof of the building and fire crews worked hard in challenging conditions.
“The fire was behind a number of voids which meant access was difficult and led to this being a protracted incident.
“It was a complex fire to fight and the roof of the building was destroyed.
“Crews initially worked to ensure there were no people inside the building and carried out a systematic search of all flats.
“We had two of our 32m ladders and a 64m ladder on scene which were key to stopping the spread of the fire.
Cause of the roof fire is under investigation
“Firefighters remained at the scene throughout the night damping down any hot spots and will be there throughout today (Wednesday).
“Our Fire Investigation team will be there later today to begin their work to establish the cause and investigate all aspects of this significant fire.”
The cause of the fire is still currently under investigation.
