An investigation has been launched after a blaze broke out in the basement of a Covent Garden shoe shop in the early hours of Tuesday morning (June 16).
Nearly 60 firefighters spent more than two hours tackling the fire, in Neal Street, which resulted in 10 people living in apartments above the shop being evacuated.
Firefighters said, at its height, the fire had taken hold of half the basement, emitting thick black smoke.
Fire engines from Lambeth, Brixton, Dowgate, Shoreditch, Kentish Town and Euston were at the scene between 12.12am and 2.21am.
Station manager John Snelgrove was also at the scene, and said: “The alarm was raised when a member of the public saw smoke issuing from the building and called the Brigade.
“Crews arrived to find thick smoke pouring from the basement and around ten people had evacuated from flats above the shop.”
The cause of the fire is now under investigation.
