Fire rips through one of London’s most elite private members’ clubs: Celebrity haunt Kensington Roof Gardens is evacuated after major fire
One of London’s most exclusive private members’ clubs was evacuated in the early hours after a massive fire broke out in the building.
Eighty firefighters rushed into action to battle the blaze with twelve fire engines at Kensington Roof Gardens, on the sixth floor of a high-rise office block on Derry Street, just off High Street Kensington.
The fire broke out at the £250-a-month members-only club at 12.57am this morning and raged for more than two and a half hours before firefighters extinguished the blaze, which was brought under control at 3.36am.
A receptionist in one of the offices below said just before 6am this morning: ‘We’ve had to wait outside in the cold since 1am and they’ve only just let us in.’
Fire engines were still parked all over High Street Kensington at 6am as uniformed crews secured the area and carried out final checks; Hoses are still connected to hydrants and snake over the pavements.
An investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire.
Dramatic photos of the burning bar were published by LFB on social media platform X.
The sky lit up in bright orange as flames rose from the garden bar on the roof of the nine-storey office block on High Street Kensington.
The fire brigade was called just before 01:00 and the fire was not extinguished until 03:30. Derry Street cordoned off
The sky is lit orange as flames rage through the roof area, and thick black smoke can be seen emerging from the inferno.
Special equipment had to be used to extinguish the fire on the ninth floor of the office block in Derry Street.
The LFB used one of its 32-foot spiral staircases to get the crew as quickly as possible to the rooftop garden bar on the top floor to serve as an observation deck that the Incident Commander could use to view the fire from the air.
An LFB spokesman said: ‘Twelve fire engines and approximately 80 firefighters responded to a fire at a commercial building on Kensington High Street in Kensington.
‘Part of the bar area on the rooftop of the nine-storey building was on fire.
‘One of the brigade’s 32-metre spiral staircases was used as an observation tower at the scene to provide the Incident Commander with an aerial view of the fire.
Fire trucks set off from Derry Street towards High Street Kensington in the early hours of this morning.
12 fire engines and 80 firefighters were called from fire stations in Kensington, Hammersmith, Chelsea and surrounding areas.
A 32 meter high spiral staircase was used as an observation deck to view the fire from above
‘The first call was received at 0057 and Control Officers mobilized crews from Kensington, Hammersmith, Chelsea and surrounding fire stations to the scene. The fire was brought under control at 03:36.
‘The cause of the fire is being investigated.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Kensington Rooftop Gardens for more details.
