Woman taken to hospital after major fire in Dalston

Photograph: London Fire Brigade

Around 70 firefighters tackled a fire affecting a row of four townhouses on Chester Crescent in Dalston last night.

One woman was taken to hospital by ambulance suffering from smoke inhalation.

London Fire Brigade was first called at was called at 12.20am and received at total of 13 calls about the blaze.

Crews from Homerton, Islington, Bethnal Green, Stoke Newington and surrounding fire stations rushed 10 fire engines to the scene.

The whole of the ground floor, half of the first and part of the second floor of one mid-terraced house were damaged by fire.

Part of the second floors of two neighbouring houses were also damaged by the blaze, along with part of the fascia of a further neighbouring house.

Crews got the fire under control by 2.06am.

Station Commander Chris Jenner, who was at the scene, said: “Two people left the house before the Brigade arrived and crews wearing breathing apparatus carried out a thorough search of the properties to ensure no one was still inside.

“The Brigade’s drones were used at the scene to provide an aerial view and support Incident Commanders in developing tactics to help tackle the fire.

“Ridley Road was closed overnight whilst crews worked to make the scene safe and we urged people to avoid the area.”

The cause is under investigation by the London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police Service.