Kensington fire: Inferno rips through rooftop as firefighters rush to popular London street

Pictures from the scene showed fire engines in the street with long ladders extended to the lofty roof of a building on the street.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “12 fire engines and around 80 firefighters tackled a fire at a commercial building on Kensington High Street in Kensington.

“A plant room on the roof of the nine-storey building was destroyed by the fire.

“Around 40 people left the building before the Brigade arrived.

“There are currently no reports of any injuries.

“One of the Brigade's 32-metre turntable ladders was used at the scene as an observation tower to provide the Incident Commander with an aerial view of the fire.

“The first call was received at 00:57, and Control Officers mobilised crews from Kensington, Hammersmith, Chelsea and surrounding fire stations to the scene."

Firefighters were only able to bring the blaze under control by 3:36am.

“The cause of the fire is under investigation,” the capital’s fire brigade informed.

The building struck by the blaze was Kensington Roof Gardens, a private members' club and celebrity haunt which also hosts Equinox gym.

The popular spot first opened in the 1930s on top of the Derry and Toms shopping arcade.

Richard Branson’s Virgin group also had ownership of the property for some time, where it was famed for the presence of live flamingos.

Spiringling costs saw doors close in 2018, but it was given a new lease of life in 2024 in its current iteration as a private members’ club.

A spokesperson for The Roof Gardens, told GB News: "In the early hours of this morning there was a fire at the Roof Gardens in an external area on the sixth floor. Nobody was hurt and there is no fire damage inside the building.

"As a precaution, we are carrying out safety checks and hope to reopen in the next few days.

"We would like to thank the Kensington & Chelsea fire teams for their swift response."

London Fire Brigade first reported on the incident at 2am on Monday, informing residents that it had 60 personnel and eight engines on the scene.

“Part of the rooftop area is alight,” they wrote, alongside a warning.

“Please avoid the area while the incident is ongoing,” the service cautioned.

Scarcely an hour later, the bridge announced that four more engines and at least 20 more firefighters had been deployed to the scene.

It was also at this time that 32-metre ladders were utilised to give the service commander a birds-eye view of the situation and direct the operation.

At 3:44am, the London Fire Brigade updated residents that the inferno was finally under control.

“Crews will remain on scene for several hours damping down hotspots,” they informed.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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