Massive Southall Warehouse Fire Prompts Evacuations

A massive fire tore through a two-story warehouse and retail building in Southall, west London, on Tuesday morning, prompting a major emergency response and the evacuation of nearby schools and residences, though no injuries were reported.

The London Fire Brigade received the first calls about the blaze at 8:55 a.m. on Bridge Road, a busy commercial area in the Ealing borough. Around 150 firefighters, operating 25 engines, were dispatched from stations including Southall, Heston, and Ealing to battle the flames, which engulfed three-quarters of the 5,000-square-foot structure at its peak. The building's roof collapsed, and the fire spread from the ground-floor retail space to upper-level storage areas, leaving the entire property fully alight both internally and externally by midday.

Authorities declared a major incident at 12:20 p.m. due to the suspected presence of fireworks and gas cylinders stored inside, which triggered multiple explosions and forced firefighters to withdraw to a safe distance of 200 meters. Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne, the incident commander, described the scene as producing a large plume of thick black smoke visible across west London. "Crews...