A ground-floor shop on Holloway Road caught fire at approximately 5.45am on Wednesday 11 November, forcing five to evacuate and temporarily closing part of Holloway Road and neighbouring businesses.
Four fire engines and 25 firefighters arrived to tackle the blaze. It took over three hours to get the fire under control, with crews mobilised from Islington, Holloway, and Kentish Town fire stations.
Abdul K, the manager of the café next door, said that the “shop was full of smoke” and that it had set his fire alarm off as it continued to spread.
He said he was “lucky” it wasn’t his business after speaking to the owner of the shop that caught fire, who he said appeared “worried”. When asked about local businesses on Holloway Road, Abdul said: “We don’t earn much. We are surviving and on top of that this happens to you… it’s very scary.”
Initially, the fire service told Abdul that his café would need to stay closed for the next two days but soon after gave the all-clear to reopen once the fire was under control at 08.40am. Services also provided him with a fan to help extract the smoke in the shop.
Abdul also said that he thinks the people in the flat seem unaffected, as they have a separate entrance at the back of the building and the smoke had not travelled up. People appeared to be back in their flats by Thursday 12 November, with windows open and lights on.
Fire service reportedly said that the source of the fire “could be the vapes because of the battery, the internal electrics or the light-up signpost” which sat at the front of the shop and were badly damaged.
The cause of the fire has not been confirmed and remains under investigation by the London Fire Brigade.
