Iconic Chiltern Firehouse hit by fire hours before Valentine’s dinner service
A fire has broken out at a luxury five star hotel in central London as 100 people are evacuated from the historic building.
Emergency services have been called to Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone, London, after a blaze rips through the ground floor up to the roof.
One member of staff arrived for work to find the iconic venue ablaze. He told Metro: ‘It is shocking. I just hope everyone is okay.’
An employee in a shop on Chiltern Street said: ‘The roof is fully on fire. It is really f*****d. It is not under control any more and everyone is evacuating.’
An employee at the Monocle Shop on Chiltern Street said: ‘It is actually getting worse.
‘There are a lot of fire trucks there is smoke coming out of the building.
‘The roof is getting really bad now. There was a lot of smoke out of the roof. They are putting water on it.
‘They are throwing water on the fire from a crane.’
How Matcha at the end of the street is giving out free hot drinks to the dozens of evacuated guests huddling in the cold.
The owner told Metro there was ‘not as much smoke as now, and then it went up in flames’.
He added: ‘It’s quite a sad moment not only for the building but for the community as well.’
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London Fire Brigade said: ‘Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters have been called to a fire at a hotel on Chiltern Street in Marylebone.
‘There is a fire in ducting which leads from the ground floor to the roof of the four storey hotel with a restaurant on the ground floor.
‘Around one hundred people have evacuated the building before the Brigade arrived.
‘The Brigade’s 999 Control officers were first called at 1452 and deployed fire crews from Euston, Soho, Paddington, Soho, West Hampstead, Kensington and Chelsea fire stations and are still at the scene.
‘The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.’
The hotel and restaurant, which is popular with royals and A-list celebrities, occupies a Grade II listed building which is a former fire station.
It is owned by American hotelier Andre Balazs, who also runs the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California.
It opened in 2013 and has 26 suites, and was once dubbed ‘London’s hottest celebrity hangout’.
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