Offord Road fire: BMW goes up in flames after gas cylinder ‘knocked over’

Firefighters tackle the car blaze in Offord Road. (Image: James Morris - DO NOT CREDIT PLEASE)

Two fire crews were on the scene after being called at about 9.20am. Work had been taking place on a house near the car and a police officer at the scene said the blaze was caused by the cylinder being knocked over.

One man at a house opposite was seen being treated with a mask over his face, but no one was seriously hurt. London Fire Brigade later said he was being treated for smoke inhalation, superficial burns and shock.

Sixteen people had called 999 about the fire.

One eyewitness, from a second-floor flat in the street, said: “All of a sudden I heard loads of shouting on the street outside. At first I thought it was a fight but then I listened and could hear a ‘whooshing’ kind of sound.

“I looked out the window and there was a BMW on fire. It started to spread to the front of the property pretty quickly and I could actually feel the heat from upstairs, with my window closed.

“It looked like it was going to get pretty bad but thankfully the fire brigade arrived. One of the crew members was shouting at people like me, who were stupidly hanging out their windows: ‘Get inside, fella!’

“I saw them picking up what looked like a gas canister from the floor. There was a man receiving treatment across the road and the crews were breaking into the BMW.”

The crews, from Upper Street and Hornsey Road fire stations, left the scene at 10.10am. London Fire Brigade is currently doing a formal investigation into the cause of the fire.