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Huge Fire in Central London

by Jordan Yerman | March 18, 2009 at 02:15 pm

959 views | 58 Recommendations | 7 comments

A huge fire broke out at the Breams Buildings in Central London, where immigration tribunals take place.

Legal chambers were evacuated as the London Fire Brigade went to work.

The 124-year-old building was undergoing renovation at the time of the fire.

The home of Britain's immigration service is thought to be undergoing renovation works and the firebrigade have cordoned off the surrounding streets in case propane canisters on the roof are ignited.

A huge cloud of black smoke could be seen billowing hundreds of feet into the air close to the Inns of Court as 12 fire engines tackled the blaze.

The fire is believed to have started on the fifth floor of the building and spread to the roof in the centre of London's legal district around Chancery Lane.

Twelve fire engines and 60 firefighters attended the blaze after LFB received a call at about 3.30pm. City of London police cordoned off Chancery Lane at the junction with Fleet Street, and stopped traffic from entering.

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Amy Judd

at 14:49 on March 18th, 2009

I hope the building is not too damaged - that's quite near my university.

Swan

at 15:11 on March 18th, 2009

Thank you Jordan for this story - and thank you Esta for the photos. I suppose it's too soon to find out if it was purposely lit or not?
~ Swan

jazzyzazzy

at 16:06 on March 18th, 2009

I just dont get all this restoration of buildings that have gone way beyond their sell by date.If anything I would say its another scam insurance job.ha ha Public fooled again.Just glad no one was burnt to a cinder.There are so many empty and delapidated buildings in London that could be used to house the homeless,something far more worthy.With restoration work its like a burning pot of money going nowhere. ? Have you ever seen the old men and woman who walk the streets of London with their homes in carrier bags.I have and believe me there are thousands of them.They could all be housed if and it is a big ! if !The goverment and local councils would just look at what is staring them in the face.knock the old buildings down and rebuild new homes for the people who need them most.

djsblack

at 22:22 on March 19th, 2009

Interesting comment. I'm not sure how it's directly tied to this fire, but it's true, building or using existing structures for the homeless, is too difficult for western governments to implement.

Amitjha

at 21:51 on March 18th, 2009

Thanks for bringing in the fore story.

I woz ere

at 23:13 on March 18th, 2009

An image of the fire near Chancery Lane in London. These workmen (about 5 floors up on the building site) continued working despite the fire until the flames started to appear. At which point all they could do was just stand and watch!

I woz ere has contributed a photo to this story.

JosefM

at 12:47 on March 20th, 2009

Breams Building was the main base of Birkbeck College during WWII. The college suffered badly from incendiary bombing, with the main library, amongst others, being burnt out. Although most of the other London colleges were evacuated, Birkbeck's students - mostly workers attending part-time - stayed put.