Offices evacuated after cooking fire at London restaurant

Emergency services were called to a restaurant fire in the City of London on 25 July 2024, which led to nearby offices being evacuated.

Control officers at the London Fire Brigade (LFB) responded to over ten calls regarding the fire on Old Jewry in the City of London. Around four fire appliances and 25 firefighters, including crews from Shoreditch, Dockhead, Shadwell and surrounding fire stations, were sent to the restaurant in Lothbury, which has offices above it.

It is understood that a small fire in the restaurant’s ducting had been extinguished prior to the arrival of firefighters. As reported by the Standard, the ground-floor kitchen of the restaurant was “partially alight”.  

Large plumes of smoke surrounded the area, and the Brigade used a 32-metre turntable ladder as a water tower to bring the incident under control. In an update on X (formerly Twitter), LFB stated: “The fire in the City of London is now under control. Traffic is likely to remain impacted as crews begin to leave the scene.

LFB later confirmed that the cause of the fire was accidental and was a result of cooking processes.

A spokesperson for LFB said: "We'd like to remind restaurant and takeaway owners to ensure they don't have dirty ducting. If you don't clean the ducting in your extraction system regularly, you're at a greater risk of ducting fires.

"You should also make sure you keep the hob, cooker hood, and extractor fan clean too – built up fat and grease can ignite and cause a fire."

LFB has also reiterated its advice to restaurant and takeaway owners, which includes ensuring that electrical systems are regularly tested, fire risk assessments have been completed, and that an emergency plan has been made. The full list of tips can be found here.

 

(Photograph by the London Fire Brigade)