A fire at a Jamie Oliver restaurant in London yesterday started in the eatery’s extraction system, it has been reported.
Around 150 people were evacuated from the New Change Passage shopping centre after the blaze at the celebrity chef’s Barbecoa restaurant.
Four fire engines and more than 20 firefighters tackled the fire, which started after part of the ducting, in the first-floor restaurant’s extraction system, caught light at about 11am.
London Fire Brigade tweeted: “Around 150 were evacuated from a nearby shopping centre before we arrived. All were uninjured.”
The cause of the blaze, which was put out by around 12.30, is still being investigated.
It is crucial that restaurant ductwork and ventilation systems are kept clean, to avoid ignition and the spread of fire.
There is no suggestion that this was the case with Oliver’s restaurant. But it is timely to urge restaurant managers to keep on top of their ventilation and ductwork maintenance as a build-up of materials in such systems can lead to fire.
Land Securities, which owns the 585,000 square-foot One New Change shopping centre, said it had carried out a controlled evacuation of several shops in the area, with people allowed to return after around an hour.
Copyright Press Association 2013