Fifteen fire engines and about 100 firefighters were called to a blaze at the BBC’s former Television Centre headquarters in West London’s White City overnight on Saturday. The London Fire Brigade said it was alerted at about 3:00AM UK time, and mobilized crews from the surrounding area.
A later update reported that the mixed-use nine-storey building was mostly being affected at its top floors. As of 8:00AM local, a restaurant, external decking and ducting remained alight. A number of flats were also potentially affected by the fire whose cause remains unknown. As of this writing, there have been no reports of casualties.
Located in Wood Lane, the building was the BBC’s Television Centre HQ until 2013. Wood Lane is closed to traffic, and people are advised to avoid the area as “the incident will remain ongoing for some time, with crews expected on scene throughout the day,” the Fire Brigade said in a briefing posted to its website.
It is working alongside multi-agency partners, including the Metropolitan Police, to evacuate buildings in the area as a precaution. A rest center has been set up for evacuees.
The Brigade said it was called at 3:08AM local with crews from Hammersmith, North Kensington, Kensington, Chiswick and surrounding fire stations mobilized to the scene.
Two 32-meter turntable ladders are also on site, deployed as water towers to help extinguish the fire from height. The Brigade’s drone team is in attendance, as well.
Here are some status updates from the London Fire Brigade:
