Firefighters from across the capital were sent to the luxury Marylebone hotel after a 999 call in the afternoon. A fire at the popular celebrity venue Chiltern Firehouse in London forced about 100 people to evacuate on Friday lunchtime. The London fire brigade (LFB) said 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines attended the blaze at the restaurant and luxury hotel on Chiltern Street in Marylebone after a 999 call was made at 2.52pm.
An LFB spokesperson said they were fighting fire in “ducting which leads from the ground floor to the roof of the four storey hotel. A plant room at roof level is also alight. The cause of the fire is not yet known.”. The restaurant is on the ground floor of the building, one of London’s first purpose-built fire stations, and an eyewitness said they had been told the fire had “started in the kitchen” and then “went upstairs”.
“The restaurant was emptied and there are lots of very glamorous people milling around outside, shivering,” the witness added. “They were very smartly dressed and I don’t think they expected to be waiting in the cold … You can smell the smoke outside but I did not see any flames.”. Crews of firefighters from across London were deployed to the scene, including from Euston, Kensington and Chelsea, Paddington, Soho and West Hampstead fire stations.
By 5.30pm, around two hours after the fire started, thick black smoke was billowing from the roof and firefighters began using an aerial platform to pump water on to the area. Shortly after it opened in 2014, the restaurant was reported to be “single-handedly feeding the celebrity sections of the tabloids”, a place where paparazzi “loll and glower, ready to pounce on the luminaries who swarm [there] like candle-crazed moths”.
It was given 5/10 for value for money and 7/10 for food by restaurant reviewer Marina O’Loughlin, and described as a place that “seems to be almost permanently accessorised by Kate Moss”. Bill Clinton, Bono, David Cameron, Keira Knightley and Lindsay Lohan have been photographed at the venue in the past. Madonna and Naomi Campbell are also among its celebrated clientele. The venue, which was opened by the American hotelier André Balazs, was contacted for comment.
