Dry cleaners next to Chalk Farm Tube station wrecked by fire
The dry cleaners being refitted on Thursday morning after the fire struck - Credit: Archant
A dry cleaners next to Chalk Farm Underground station was badly damaged by a fire yesterday evening.
The fire broke out at the American Dry Cleaning Company in Adelaide Road at around 11.10pm.
Four fire engines attended the scene, one each from Kentish Town and West Hampstead fire stations, and two from Belsize fire station - which is earmarked for closure.
The blaze took 21 firefighters to put out and was under control just after 11.50pm yesterday.
The Underground station, which is in the same six-storey building as the shop, was unaffected by the fire.
The manager of the shop, who did not want to be named, was on leave when the fire broke out.
She only became aware of the incident when travelling past the store front the next morning.
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Mudasser Khan, sales assistant at newsagents News and Food two doors down from the American Dry Cleaning Company, was working when the fire started.
He said: “I smelt smoke so I went outside and saw the fire. There were several people phoning 999.
“I closed the shop until the firemen came, but they said it was then safe to go back inside.”
Sales assistant Atul Khamar at wine specialist Grape Sense, next door to the dry cleaners, said: “When I came in this morning, I saw a lot of smoke inside the shop. I had to switch the fan on and keep the door open to make it go away.”
The shop will need to be rewired and refitted, which could take over a month.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
