Around 100 firefighters fought a blaze in a large warehouse on Trout Road in West Drayton, London.
The presence of a gas cylinder meant the premises and surrounds had to be evacuated of 30 employees and 40 people from neighbouring properties. Fire crews were called at 11.21 am and battled the fire for more than ten hours. It was finally under control at 22.24 pm.
Approximately half of the warehouse, which measured 100 by 100m and consisted of several individual industrial units, was damaged by the fire.
London Fire Brigade station manager Matthew Burrows, who attended the incident on 19 March, said: "Our crews worked hard throughout the day to get this large fire under control. We had to tackle the blaze from three different sides to prevent it from spreading to other units.
“A number of nearby residential properties had to be evacuated as a precaution as a gas cylinder was involved in the fire. We take extra precaution with fires involving cylinders because some cylinders can explode when exposed to heat”.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
