A woman has been taken to hospital as a priority after a canal boat caught fire on the Grand Union Canal in Southall on Tuesday (May 8) afternoon.
Fire crews were called to the scene just after 1.30pm to reports of a fire. In total, 25 firefighters and six fire engines attended the scene.
A statement on the London Fire Brigade reads: "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.
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"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."
A photo taken after the fire was extinguished shows that the boat was completely destroyed by the blaze.
A woman was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service (LAS), but it is unclear if her injuries were as a direct result of the fire.
A spokeswoman for LAS said: "We were called at 1.43pm today, May 8, 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."
A worker at Chodas Auto Services, whose workshop is next to the canal, reported seeing a "massive fire".
“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," he said.
The official LFB Twitter account tweeted at 4.02pm to say that the fire was under control, and that the woman had been taken to hospital.
