Yahoo News Worcester Park fire destroys four-storey block of flats in south-west London
Firefighters battled a huge fire that destroyed a block of flats in London on Monday morning.
A total of 20 fire engines and 125 firefighters tackled the blaze at the four-storey residential building in Worcester Park, south-west London.
The fire broke out at the building on Sherbrooke Way in the early hours of Monday.
No injuries have been reported and the cause of the blaze is not yet known.
London Fire Brigade said they were alerted to the blaze at 1.27am and had it under control by 6.31am.
“The whole of the four storey building is alight,” it tweeted.
"This is a challenging fire and firefighters are working hard to bring the blaze under control," said Graham Adams, station manager at the London Fire Brigade.
"Firefighters will remain on scene for a number of hours and we would urge people to avoid the area if possible."
We now have 20 fire engines and around 125 firefighters at the scene of a flat fire in #WorcesterPark. The whole of the four storey building is alight https://t.co/vwKhI20eC7 pic.twitter.com/pk59FflIKp
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) September 9, 2019
The fire service said 999 control officers had received 29 calls about the fire.
London Ambulance tweeted: "Our crews are still on scene responding to a fire in #WorcesterPark.
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"No injuries reported but we remain on scene as a precaution."
Resident Stephen Nobrega, a father of three children aged between eight months and 13 years old, said he had "lost everything" after his ground-floor flat was destroyed.
He said: "I was woken up by my missus at about 1.20am, screaming and shouting: 'Fire! Fire!'
"I heard a lot of residents outside and by that point somebody was already banging on my window and pressing my buzzer, so I knew it was quite serious.
"I got out of bed, got what you see me wearing on, got the kids with something on and managed to get us all out safely, which is the main thing."
Mr Nobrega, who lived in a part-owned, part-rented two-bedroom flat on the ground floor, described how the fire quickly took hold and spread.
He said: "I could hear alarms going off but it was only when I was outside and could see the plume of smoke coming out...
"The top-right corner is where the fire started, in that area.
"Within about 20 minutes, fairly quick, it started ripping through, going from apartment to apartment, right to left, and then it started going down and caught alight on the other side.
"Speaking to one of the firefighters down there, he said my apartment seems to have survived, but the water damage is horrendous. It's gone."
Mr Nobrega, who said he was in the process of selling the property, praised the emergency services for getting the blaze under control.
He said: "Fair play to them, I've never seen so many fire engines turn up.
"It's taken them all night to bring it under control, but, to see it at its full rage, it's a job and a half. I take my hat off to them.
"I've lost everything. The most important thing is everyone's alive, there are no fatalities to my knowledge.
"But everything we had in there - from simple things like clothes to sentimental stuff which you'll never get back - I've got photos of the kids on family holidays, sentimental bits and pieces gone forever ... it's heart-breaking."
Resident Dean Fowler, who lives on the top floor of the building with his family, told the BBC he was woken up by someone banging on his door.
He said: "I then heard someone screaming 'there's a fire, get out', and I just got my boys and went.”
Mr Fowler had only been living in the building for three weeks. He said he had lost “everything” in the fire, but added: “We're alive, we're breathing, that's all that matters.”
London Fire Brigade group manager Rick Ogden, who was at the scene, said: "On arrival, crews were faced with a well developed and intense fire.
"This was a challenging fire involving all floors of a four storey building. Firefighters worked hard to bring the blaze under control.
The fire in #WorcesterPark is now under control but firefighters will remain at the scene throughout the day. Please avoid the area if possible https://t.co/vwKhI20eC7 pic.twitter.com/GoqcGrLsrP
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) September 9, 2019
"Firefighters will remain on scene throughout the day. We would urge people to avoid the area if possible and for residents in the immediate area to keep their windows and doors closed."
Fire crews from New Malden, Sutton, Mitcham, Surbiton, Wimbledon, Kingston, Wallington and other surrounding fire stations attended the scene.
