Hundreds Flee As Huge Fire Rips Into Flats http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Peckham-Fire-Firefighters-Battling-Blaze-In-South-East-London/Article/200911415469444?lpos=UK_News_Top_Stories_Header_1&lid=ARTICLE_15469444_Peckham_Fire%3A_Firefighters_Battling_Blaze_In_South_East_London10:51am UK, Thursday November 26, 2009
Huw Borland, Sky News Online
About 310 people have fled their homes after a huge blaze at a building site spread to two blocks of flats in south east London.
More than 125 firefighters battled the inferno in Peckham, which was first reported at about 4.30am.
Eyewitness Beatrice Ghartey told Sky News: "Cars were blowing up. It was just really scary.
"The blaze was moving towards us. I called the fire brigade and I could not even talk. I was literally screaming, 'Fire.'"
Pictures of the blaze showed flames bursting from the top floors of a four-storey building.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said the building site near Carisbrooke Gardens first caught light, with gas cylinders possibly involved.
The blaze then spread to nearby blocks of flats and other properties in Sumner Road and Rosemary Road.
Brigade assistant commissioner Steve Turek said: "The ferocity of the fire was a challenge when we first arrived because all the buildings were simultaneously burning."
Despite the early morning panic, only four people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Two of victims, including a police officer, were suffering from smoke inhalation.
Dozens of people, including mothers with babies, had sheltered in the street as fire crews battled the flames.
The evacuated people were being moved to emergency accommodation provided by the local authority.
MP Harriet Harman said the local community was in a "state of shock" but praised the courage of the emergency services.
She said: "They have been incredibly brave to go into these buildings, you can see they are incredibly unsafe and it is still so hot.
"The heat of the blaze must have been unimaginable. It's really a miracle that nobody lost their life."
The blaze comes nearly five months after six people died when a fire ripped through a block of flats in nearby Camberwell.
The tragedy at Lakanal House on July 3 led to concerns about the design of the building
