Lightning strike causes Furzedown fire
Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters tackled a fire on Mitcham Lane in Furzedown in the early hours of this morning, Saturday 27th June. The fire is believed to have been caused by a lightning strike.
The fire occurred in an end of terrace shop with dwellings above that was under construction. The roof of the building was destroyed by the fire. There were no reports of any injuries.
One of London Fire Brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders was used at the scene was an observation tower, providing the Incident Commander with an aerial view of the fire.
Control Officers took the first of 17 calls at 4.17am and mobilised crews from Tooting, Norbury, West Norwood and surrounding fire stations to the scene. The fire was extinguished by 6.24am.
Local resident Niall Barrett told us, “Most at the scene described it as The loudest bang they had ever heard! It even set off the alarms at St Albans Church, which is 200 metres away. The lightning strike also blew out the electrics at The Furzedown Pub across the road.”
📷 🎥 Niall Barrett