01 Feb 2013
Residents were forced to evacuate flats above a restaurant in south-east London when a fire engulfed the building early this morning.
It took eight fire engines around two hours to bring the blaze in St James Way, Sidcup, under control.
When the fire crews arrived at 04.30 GMT, 21 people had already evacuated the three-storey building, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.
Although two of the building’s three floors have been damaged, no one is believed to have been hurt in the incident.
A spokeswomen for LFB said 21 people had “self evacuated” from the property and “all persons were accounted for”.
The ground floor of the building was “100% alight” when firefighters arrived, while the first floor was “50% alight”, an LFB spokeswoman said.
The fire brigade said that eight fire engines attended the scene, and fire crews used three jets and thermal imaging cameras to fight the blaze.
Copyright Press Association 2013