Intense fire rips through police station in east London

A police station in east London has gone up in flames, with nearby residents urged to close their windows due to the amount of thick black smoke.

The roof of the Met Police station on Romford Road in Forest Gate, near Stratford, caught on fire earlier this afternoon with London Fire Brigade (LFB) being called at 4.17pm.

Road closures are in place as 30 fire engines and around 175 firefighters tackle the blaze.

An extra 10 joined the 20 engines that were on the scene around two hours ago, while 50 more firefighters have joined in that time.

Aerial appliances have also been deployed to ‘attack the flames from above’, the LFB said.

Traffic around the area is expected to be heavily impacted, with crews expecting to continue their wait late into the night.

LFB said the cause of the fire was not yet known, and there are not believed to be any injuries.

A statement on the brigade’s website said: ‘The roof of a police station including is completely alight. 

‘The fire is producing large amounts of smoke and people in the local area are advised to keep their windows and doors closed.

‘Road closures are in place and people are advised to avoid the area while the incident is ongoing.’

It continued: ‘Three of the Brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders and one of the Brigade’s 64-metre turntable ladders are at the scene.

‘The Brigade was called at 1617. Firefighters from Stratford, Leytonstone, Plaistow and surrounding fire stations are attending the scene.’

Commander Kyle Gordon of the Metropolitan Police said in a tweet: ‘The fire is still ongoing and the scene is expected to be in place for some time.

‘We’re working with @Londonfire and partners to minimise the impact on the local area.’

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