Huge fire at block of flats in east London with woman and baby treated at scene

A woman and a baby are among more than 30 people who fled after a fire at a block of flats in east London today.

It happened on Collendale Road in Walthamstow, east London, with two flats on the fifth and sixth floor going up in flames.

Videos on social media showed firefighters being lifted above the building covered in billowing plumes of smoke.

Water towers were also used to try to help fight the fire from above.

Around 36 people were evacuated from the building with around 15 fire engines and 100 firefighters involved to bring it under control.

The baby and woman were treated at the scene and discharged by the London Ambulance Service.

A worker at the nearby Yonder rock climbing gym told Metro that a person who lives in one of the flats impacted is a regular at the gym.

‘My manager knows the person and luckily they were unharmed because they were in a cafe at the time of the fire,’ she said.

‘My manager called them to check if they were ok at the time it all happened.

‘You can only see the fire a little bit from where we are but the whole area was cordoned off and firefighters evacuated the area.

‘The response of the fire brigade was really fast and I’m happy to hear that nobody has been injured.’

Fire crews from Walthamstow, Tottenham, Hornsey and surrounding fire stations were sent to tackle the blaze.

The London Fire Brigade said the fire was under control shortly before 4.30pm and they are investigating its cause, with crews to remain on the scene into the evening.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 1.44pm to reports of a fire on Collendale Road, Walthamstow.

‘We sent resources to the scene, including a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer, a clinical team manager and members of our hazardous area response team.’

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