Firefighters still tackling Finchley Road fire more than 48 hours after it started
Fire crews tackle the blaze in Finchley Road. Picture: Polly Hancock - Credit: Archant
Firefighters are still working to put out the last embers of the Finchley Road fire more than 48 hours after it first broke out.
Fire crews are on the scene to make sure the fire does not reignite, using a cherry picker-style turntable ladder to pour water on the remnants of the blaze.
Seventy firefighters were called to the blaze on Monday morning at about 6.30am, after a large fire engulfed the PhoneRepairs4U shop and the flats above, near the O2 shopping centre.
Twenty-five people escaped the fire, among them a pregnant woman and her husband who were rescued from the roof.
It emerged yesterday that a tenant’s two cats sadly died in the blaze, while victim Nabeel Tariq and his husband lost roughly £100,000 of personal items. They do not have contents insurance.
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Fire crews are expected to stay at the scene this morning.
The northbound stretch of Finchley Road remains closed between Goldhurst Terrace and Arkwright Road, while one southbound lane is open.
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Station manager David George, who was at the scene on Monday, said: “Firefighters worked extremely hard in strenuous conditions to contain the fire and bring it under control.
“On arrival crews wearing breathing apparatus entered the building and led over 20 people to safety from inside. We also used one of our turntable ladders, which is like a cherry picker, to rescue a further two people from the roof.
“We’re likely to remain at the scene throughout Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and would ask people to avoid Finchley Road if possible.”