Families were woken up by smoke from a fire which badly damaged the air ventilation at a supermarket near their homes in London’s East End early this-morning.
Emergency fire crews were called at 4.45am to tackle the blaze with smoke rising 100ft in the air at the back of the Sainsbury store in Mile End Road close to Stepney’s Ocean estate.
“We could see the smoke a mile away,” said a senior Fire Brigade officer. “The families came out onto their balconies when the smoke spread and we had to advice them to stay inside and close their front-doors.”
Crews from Bow and Bethnal Green fire stations got the blaze under control in 15 minutes. Half the ventilation system was destroyed along with two large rubbish bins.
Fire investigators are now looking into the cause of the blaze. No-one was injured.
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