Wood Lane Fire is Finally Over

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Potentially explosive cylinders cooled and made safe

The fire in Wood Lane in Shepherd's Bush which caused chaos across West London throughout Tuesday, January 31 is now over.

London Fire Brigade confirmed the news on their twitter feed on Tuesday evening, saying: " The fire on Wood Lane is now over. It damaged a no. of industrial units and 20vehicles. Cylinders on the site have been cooled + made safe. "

Earlier, as a huge plume of smoke rose over the Wood Lane, north of Westfield Shopping Centre, there were worries that the site, a former dairy among a number of industrial warehouses, may contain a number of potentially explosive cylinders.

The number of fire crews at the scene grew during the morning until 100 firefighters from Hammersmith, North Kensington, Willesden, Kensington, Paddington and Chiswick fire stations were gathered at the scene.

Staff working at the nearby BBC buildings were warned that some areas may need to be evacuated. Measures were also being taken to ensure that smoke was not allowed to enter are circulation within the buildings.

At around 1pm, London Fire Brigade's Twitter feed reported: " We've found one acetylene cylinder at the site of the Wood Lane fire. Crews are currently cooling it to make it safe."

An hour later came confirmation that the fire had been contained, but the Fire Brigade expected to be onsite for some time to come. By late afternoon, ten fire engines were still at the site by late afternoon, with firefighters working to cool acetylene cylinders which can explode when exposed to heat.

Just after 5pm, the Metropolitan Police Helicopter brought a team to help the firefighters with thermal imaging of the location, and the Fire Brigade followed this with an their announcement that the battle with the blaze which began at 9.30am was officially over.

The fire caused widespread traffic chaos throughout the day, but on Tuesday evening, all roads were reopened apart from Wood Lane.

However, White City tube station remained closed and Overground and Southern trains from Willesden to Clapham Junction running through Shepherd's Bush rremained suspended.

The site, a former dairy owned by Unigate and then Dairy Crest, is now owned by developers Helical Bar and Aviva Investments, who are planning to redevelop it as part of the White City Opportunity Area, an area of land earmarked by Hammersmith and Fulham Council and the Mayor of London for major regeneration.

In May last year, they appointed Eric Parry Architects to create a masterplan for a proposed mixed use development which will include 1,500 new homes on the 10 acre site. In November they held to the first of a series of public consultations on their plans, and are expected to announced further plans shortly.

 

January 31, 2012