Chiltern Firehouse: Dozens evacuated as fire breaks out at hotel

About 100 people have been evacuated from a five-star hotel in central London as a fire continues to burn through the building.

The blaze at Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone, which started at about 14:50 GMT, was located in ducting leading from the ground floor to the roof of the building. A plant room at roof level is also alight, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

The hotel, which has a restaurant on the ground floor, is a celebrity hotspot and has hosted A-listers including Jennifer Lawrence, Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp.

Located on Chiltern Street, it occupies the site of a Victorian fire station built in 1889 and was the location of Kylie Minogue’s 50th birthday party in 2018.

Guy Fischman, who was walking home from his workplace near Bond Street, said he saw “embers” and an “orange glow” coming from a window at the hotel.

The 23-year-old, from Richmond in south-west London, said he saw “the whole street full of smoke”.

“My coat stinks of smoke right now,” Mr Fischman told the PA news agency. “There was really thick smoke and it got into the other street as well. I walked out and the visibility was awful.

“I did not expect it to be so bad, especially seeing the embers coming from the window at the top, because it was so dark you can just see the orange glow and [the firefighters] were really trying to fight it with the water jets.”

Mr Fischman added: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in the UK or in London.”

Twenty fire engines and about 125 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze, LFB said.

Crews from Euston, Soho, Paddington, West Hampstead, Kensington and Chelsea fire stations were deployed. The cause of the fire is not yet known.