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Around 130 people were evacuated yesterday when a large fire took hold on the top floor and roof of a Ministry of Justice building in central London. The fire at Bream’s Buildings in Chancery Lane, which houses the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, broke out at around 3.40 pm.
Around 75 firefighters and 15 appliances tackled the blaze, which went on through the night. The fire severely damaged the fifth (top) floor and roof area which was undergoing refurbishment, and firefighters were continuing with a salvage operation on the fourth floor this morning.
A spokesperson from the London Fire Brigade confirmed that three 15kg propane gas cylinders had been found on the roof of the building. Smoke could be seen billowing up hundreds of feet from all around central London, with scores of people uploading pictures they had taken on social networking sites such as twitter. A Tribunal Service spokesperson told Sky News that it was likely that hearings scheduled for the rest of the week at the building would be postponed.