A lithium battery caused a dramatic tower block blaze in east London that led to evacuations on Monday morning, firefighters believe.
The London Fire Brigade said the blaze in a tenth-floor flat in a tower block on Queen’s Road West in Plaistow had forced 30 people to evacuate from the building.
Three of those, all men, left the flat before firefighters arrived on scene shortly after 8am were treated by paramedics at the scene.
Firefighters said the flat’s balcony and interior in the Scott House estate were alight, with ten fire engines called to the scene to tackle the blaze.
Balconies on the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th floors, directly above the fire, were also heavily damaged by flames.
The fire was deemed under control around an hour later.
Fire Brigade investigators said they believed the fire was started accidentally by the failure of a lithium battery.
Around 30 calls were made to report the fire, with the first being received at 8.02am.
Firefighters from East Ham, Plaistow, Stratford and surrounding fire stations are currently at the scene.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said the cause of the fire is not yet known.
Footage showed a large number of firefighters responding to the fire, including with specialist aerial ladders.
Newham mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said on X, formerly Twitter: “Officers from [Newham Council] are supporting the [London Fire Brigade] crew as they deal with this fire incident in Plaistow at Scott House on Queens Road West.
“Close monitoring of the unfolding situation and support for residents underway.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 8.09am this morning to reports of a fire in Queens Road West, Plaistow.
“We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) and an incident response officer.
“The first of our crews arrived in two minutes.
“We treated two patients, before taking a man to hospital, as a priority, while the other was released at the scene.”
