Published: January 17, 2012
by TOM FOOT

THE cause of the fire on the Taplow estate was a candle that set alight a "huge amount" of hoarded papers, fire chiefs have told the New Journal.

The London Fire Brigade said 130 people were evacuated following Monday's blaze on the 17th floor of the 22-storey block in Swiss Cottage.

Forty firefighters were sent to the junction of Winchester Road and Adelaide Road in Swiss Cottage at 10.07pm.

Tenants were taken to the Winchester Project community centre until the fire was brought under control at 1.30am.

No one was injured.

Kentish Town Station Manager Rod Horton, who was at the scene, said: “This was a big block of flats and at this time of night a lot of people were inside the building. Crews worked extremely hard to get the fire under control and to confine the fire to just one flat on the 17th floor. Thankfully no one was injured.

“The cause of the fire was accidental and is believed to have been caused by a candle setting alight some papers. There were a huge amount of papers, magazines and books stored in the flat. People should try to avoid storing large amounts of this sort of material as it increases the chances of having a fire in the first place and intensifies the spread of fire if one does occur.”