A woman was rescued after a fire broke out in a block of flats and offices on Whitechapel High Street on Monday afternoon.
It took 125 firefighters to get the fire under control and 60 people were evacuated from the building, after initial calls were made to emergency services at 3.53pm.
Dramatic footage on social media captured the fire and an eyewitness said debris fell from the building, which is opposite Aldgate East Tube station.
We continue to tackle the fire on #Whitechapel High Street. We used one of our 64 metre ladders (tallest in Europe) to get water onto the building from the outside. Please still avoid the area https://t.co/wyMmpNeYbp pic.twitter.com/74RqtP4Y55
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) March 7, 2022
Station Commander Chris Jenner, who was at the scene, said: “This was a dynamic and visible fire with our 999 Control Officers taking more than 50 calls in the early stages. A woman was trapped by the nature of the fire on the 17th floor.
“She was given fire survival advice by control officers until firefighters located her. Fire crews used a fire escape hood to help lead the woman to safety via the internal staircase. Around 60 people evacuated the building with others remaining in their unaffected flats.”
Fire escape hoods provide members of the public with up to 15 minutes protection from four of the main fire gases (carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride and acrolein).
Mr Jenner said: “We mobilised a 64 metre turntable ladder to the scene. This is the tallest firefighting ladder in Europe and allowed us to get water onto the fire from outside the building.
“The professionalism, hard work and quick actions of control officers and firefighters limited the damage to the block and prevented serious injuries.”
Lynn Ling, 25, a London School of Economics student who lives on the 20th floor with her husband Yuri, said the incident had been “very scary”.
Ms Ling was wearing a silver rescue blanket because she forgot her coat in the scramble to evacuate.
She said: “I forgot to take my coat. It was very scary.”
She added a fireman on the 19th floor was knocking on doors telling people to leave.
“He said, ‘Don’t be scared’,” she added. “They were trying to protect us. He was nice.”
The 25-year-old said when she was on her way down, a group of firemen “were about to go upstairs”.
Ms Ling said she did not know what had started the fire and added she was “very worried” about their possessions.
Sabrina Chevannes, managing director at Complex Creative, which has offices close to the building, said: “It was scary because we heard a scream when we were on the streets and that was when the debris was falling down.
“I don’t know if people were hurt but that’s when the police came and cordoned off the streets. People were panicking and worrying as they didn’t know what was going on. The whole street was just filled with people.”
Miss Chevannes said she went to Aldgate East Tube station to leave the area and “the whole platform and underground was filled with smoke”.
A woman who owns a flat in the block told the Standard she was “horrified” and “in fear of all my neighbours’ lives” upon hearing the news.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she was scared the fire was “going to spread from flat to flat”.
She said: “I’m on a WhatsApp group with my neighbours and I know they are safe. They’ve been sending me pictures and saying they’re not allowed in the building.”
“I feel very lucky that I’m not there today,” she added.
Fire crews from Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Dowgate, Bethnal Green, Dockhead, Old Kent Road, Islington and surrounding fire stations attended the scene.
The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.
