Thick smoke seen across London after fire breaks out at electrical substation

A huge fire at an electrical substation in west London is sending plumes of black smoke across the city.

Londoners woke up to clouds of smoke drifting across the sky after a fire broke out at a substation on Aberdeen Place in Maida Vale in the Westminster borough at about 5.30am.

Around a 100 firefighters are at the scene after parts of the substation went up in flames, and residents were advised to keep their windows shut.

The fire is causing a ‘considerable amount of smoke,’ which is visible from far away, the fire brigade said.

Residents reported hearing ‘loud bangs, like explosions.’

Station Commander Paul Morgan, who is at the scene, said: ‘This is a very visible fire and there is lots of smoke. Residents are advised to keep their windows and doors shut.’

An eyewitness who is at the scene told Metro: ‘The flames are going higher and higher. They have to let it burn because the power is still on. They can’t fight it until the power is off.

‘They can’t put water on it until it’s off.’

The man said that one of the firefighters told him to ‘charge up his phone.’

He said he saw the size of the fire grow from about 10 feet to ‘about 70 feet’ in the space of an hour.

There have been no reports of any injuries.

One local claimed that firefighters fear the fire could impact the electrical supply ‘across the city,’ describing it as ‘a nightmare.’

The resident said: ‘People were banging on our flat door getting us out this morning with shouts of ‘fire, fire’ and telling us to run. It was terrifying. I feared the worst. 

‘I grabbed my shoes and legged it.’

Footage shows flames raging high as they reach above the roof level of nearby houses, with thick black smoke billowing into the air.

One resident in the SW7 area in southwest London said the smoke is visible for miles.

Several people have contacted the fire brigade’s control room, with around 73 calls logged alerting them to the blaze.

The cause of the fire is not known yet.

Metro understands that the location might be a telecommunications substation.

The fire brigade told Metro that they have sent a specialist unit to the scene that can put out electrical fires.

The substation is not thought to supply the transport network.

We have approached UK Power Networks for a comment.

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