LONDON — A fierce blaze tore through an electrical substation in St John’s Wood this morning, April 29, forcing residents from their homes and sending thick black smoke billowing over one of London’s poshest neighborhoods. Firefighters, numbering around 100, scrambled to the scene on Victoria Passage, battling flames that leapt to a nearby building’s roof and sparked a major incident declaration.
The fire kicked off early, with the first emergency calls flooding in around dawn. By mid-morning, 15 fire engines had roared into the area, their sirens cutting through the quiet of NW8. Crews worked frantically to contain the inferno, which had engulfed an electrical transformer and was spitting out enough smoke to prompt warnings for locals to seal their windows and doors tight. The blaze, visible for miles, turned the sky a hazy gray, with acrid air hanging heavy over Maida Vale and beyond.
Homes in the surrounding streets were cleared out as a precaution, though exact numbers of displaced residents remain unclear. No injuries have been reported, and remarkably, the city’s power grid held steady—supplies to customers stayed online despite the chaos. The London Fire Brigade, which led the response, threw everything at the fire, using aerial ladders and water jets to douse the flames. By late afternoon, they’d wrestled the blaze under control but stayed on site, mopping up hotspots and ensuring the area was safe.
A neighboring property took a hit, its roof catching fire, though the damage extent isn’t yet public. The brigade stood down its major incident status by day’s end, a small relief for a city already rattled by recent infrastructure scares. Authorities haven’t pinned down a cause, and investigations are set to start once the site is fully secured.
Roads around Aberdeen Place remain closed, snarling traffic and forcing detours. Residents are being told to steer clear while crews wrap up. The substation, a critical piece of the capital’s electrical network, will need a thorough once-over before it’s back in action, but for now, London’s lights are still on.