London Bridge fire: Rail routes closed, buildings evacuated and cars alight in south London

Rail services have been disrupted and buildings evacuated due to a large fire causing “bursts of black smoke” under railway arches in central London.

Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters were called to the blaze on Union Street in Southwark on Wednesday morning, where the railway arch was completely alight according to London Fire Brigade.

Train operator Southeastern said all routes through nearby London Bridge station were “severely disrupted”.

'Huge burst of black smoke'

Local student Lauren Chopin lives in an apartment two minutes’ walk from the fire and said she had to wear a mask in her apartment due to the fumes.

“There is a lot of smoke all through Union Street and neighbouring streets, there are many fire emergency services trying to put out the fire,” the 20-year-old said.

“It sometimes slows down and the smoke becomes whiter, only to be followed by another huge burst of black smoke… we have closed all doors and windows to limit the amount of smoke coming in.”

'Thick, black smoke pouring out'

Hanushe Lala, from Streatham in south London, was evacuated from her workplace as a result of the smoke.

“I was in a meeting at around 9.44am, when the alarms started going off and everyone was looking around to find out if it was real. Then we all got told to leave the building,” the 24-year-old, who works in facilities management said.

“Everything has been cornered off and there’s thick, black smoke pouring out of the archway.

“All the buildings around us have been evacuated… around half an hour ago the place was swarming with people but now everyone is starting to move away because they’ve told us we won’t be let back in for a while because the fire is so bad and getting worse.”

A social media manager said he heard “fire alarms going off” while he was at work and was shocked to see “black smoke billowing” in Southwark.

Lee Scarratt, 36, said: “At about 9.30am this morning I suddenly saw very thick grey/black smoke billowing out over the tops of the buildings across the street from my office building.

“I could hear fire alarms going off and a crowd of people crowding at the end of the road. Then four fire engines arrived and an incident truck. The smoke continued to get thicker and could be really visual in the sky.”

He added that his office was “close enough” to see the smoke clearly and he was not sure about distance, but “it was behind the buildings across the street”.

He said the fire engines arrived around five to 10 minutes after the smoke started coming out above the buildings and there was a “huge” crowd at the end of the road, which was “presumably a mixture of evacuated people and passers-by”.

London Fire Brigade station commander Wayne Johnson said from the scene: “The blaze is producing heavy smoke and those living or working in the local area are advised to keep their windows and doors closed.

“Trains to and from London Bridge are affected and several buildings have been evacuated.”

The fire service said it had taken more than 33 emergency calls regarding the blaze, which it was first alerted to at 9.29am.

The blaze spread to a car park where several electric vehicles also caught fire.

Train operator Southeastern wrote on Twitter: “Due to a fire next to the track between Waterloo East and London Bridge, services across all routes through London Bridge are severely disrupted.

“Trains are being diverted to other London terminals or terminated at alternative locations.”

Network Rail wrote on Twitter: “A fire broke out in an arch under (the) railway. London Fire Brigade are on site with multiple pumps and we have closed the railway until we can confirm it’s safe.”

It added: "We’re working with London Fire Brigade and we will need to inspect the railway once the fire out before we can reopen. Thank you for bearing with us."

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