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Six fire engines and 25 firefighters have been called to a canal boat fire in Southall .

London Fire Brigade (LFB) were first called at 1.42pm on Tuesday (May 8) and have received 13 calls in total.

Crews from Southall, Hayes , Feltham, Acton and surrounding fire stations are at the scene.

A statement on the LFB website reads: "Six fire engines and 25 firefighters and officers have been called to a fire on a canal boat in Southall.

"The Brigade’s 999 Control Officers have taken 13 calls to the fire.

"The Brigade was called at 1342. Fire crews from Southall, Hayes, Feltham, Acton and surrounding fire stations are at the scene.

"The cause of the fire is not known at this stage."

We will be bringing you updates as they come in.

What we know so far

A woman has been taken to hospital after a fire which completely gutted a canal boat.

You can read the full story here.

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Woman taken to hospital as a priority

Following reports that a woman was taken to hospital, London Ambulance released the following statement.

“We were called at 1.43pm today (8 May) to reports of a fire at the Grand Union Canal, Southall.
“We sent an ambulance crew, our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) and an incident response officer to the scene.
“We treated a patient at the scene and took them to hospital as a priority.”

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Fire under control

London Fire Brigade have tweeted to say the fire is under control, and that a woman has been taken to hospital.

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Cause is under investigation

The London Fire Brigade has updated its statement on the fire:

“Six fire engines and 25 firefighters and officers were called to a fire on a canal boat near Gilding Way in Southall.

“A barge was destroyed by the fire. One woman left the boat before the Brigade arrived. She was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews.

“Firefighters also cooled two cylinders to an ambient temperature. The Brigade’s 999 Control Officers took 13 calls to the fire.

“The Brigade was called at 1342 and the fire was under control at 1551. Fire crews from Southall, Hayes, Feltham, Acton and surrounding fire stations attended the scene.

“The cause of the fire is under investigation.”

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Canal boat 'completely destroyed' by fire

A picture by London Fire Brigade reveals the devastation caused to the canal barge.

The canal boat was completely destroyed in the fire
The canal boat was completely destroyed in the fire (Image: LFB)
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Nearby worker saw "massive fire" as entire barge in flames

A worker at nearby Choda Auto Services witnessed the size of the blaze.

“It was a massive fire, the whole barge was in flames. There were lots of fire engines and fire fighters, and at least three ambulances too from what I could see.

“It started at pretty much exactly 1.30, but I don’t know if anyone was actually injured or what caused it.”

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RSPCA staff saw 'a lot of firefighters' arriving on scene

The fire is believed to have erupted at the Grand Union Canal, near the RSPCA Southall Cattery.

A receptionist at the cattery, who asked not to be named, said:

“I haven’t seen the fire itself, but I am aware there’s a fire going on and we have seen a lot of firefighters and fire engines arriving at the scene so as far as I know it’s all in hand and being dealt with.”

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