Hold yer breath, Londoners

[Liar]

Blaze cloaks London in black smoke

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A thick plume of black smoke covered the sky over London Monday as blaze broke out in a disused warehouse in the east of the city. Fire crews were investigating the cause, but it was not thought to be terror-related.

The London Ambulance Service said there were not thought to be any casualties from the blaze in an industrial area of the city, close to the site of the 2012 Olympic Games.

A fire service spokeswoman said the warehouse, where the blaze started at around 12:15 p.m. (7:15 a.m. ET), was in the process of being demolished.

Fire crews deployed to the scene, which is only a few miles from the Canary Wharf business district, a spokesman for the London fire brigade said.

At least 15 engines and 75 firefighters were at the scene tackling the blaze at its height.

The garage was on Waterden Road, which is just a third of a mile from the new Stratford International, a station serving the Eurostar train. It is also close to the area of east London which is undergoing redevelopment for the 2012 Olympic Games and near the Canary Wharf business district.

Eyewitness David Buik, who was watching the blaze from his offices in Canary Wharf, told CNN the fire was about four miles west of London's City Airport.

"It must be something chemical or oil, it is rancid."

The airport said its flights were unaffected by the blaze.

 

[somberReality]

This is what happens when you don't put out your cigs. tsk tsk

 

[cantdog]

Maybe now the Fire Brigades can get some budget...

 

[Liar]

Maybe now the Fire Brigades can get some budget...

Since they probably will handle this in spite of crappy financing, nah. That's the logic of pencil head budget controllers for ya.

 

[neonlyte]

It's a controlled burn rather than a rescue/save mission. Don't imagine it's stretching the fire brigade. Why do you think they are underfunded, Cant?

 

[cantdog]

Firefighters always are. You can cut and it doesn't show. People call up and complain if they miss seeing 'their' policeman, but fire gear and equipment sits out of sight. It was nearly universal on my side of the pond.

An exception seems to be anti-terrorism, though. Lotta money thrown around for that, and some of it gets to the fire service.

But in my day, it took a spectacular fire or hazmat emergency to get us a shot in the arm for equipment or facilities.

 

[oggbashan]

Real Londoners remember the smog that lasted until the late 1950s.

A plume of smoke won't bother them. London Smog contained noxious chemicals, lasted for weeks and was sometimes so thick that you couldn't see your feet - that was worrying. Every winter it caused thousands of unnecessary deaths.

Og (coughing and spluttering in memory of dangerous cycle rides to school)

 

[neonlyte]

Firefighters always are. You can cut and it doesn't show. People call up and complain if they miss seeing 'their' policeman, but fire gear and equipment sits out of sight. It was nearly universal on my side of the pond.

An exception seems to be anti-terrorism, though. Lotta money thrown around for that, and some of it gets to the fire service.

But in my day, it took a spectacular fire or hazmat emergency to get us a shot in the arm for equipment or facilities.

Yeh... see what you mean. The Fire Service lost 4 in a big fire in the Midlands a few days ago, a wall collapsed on them. The UK service is reasonably well funded now, I believe. The Portuguese Service remains a voluntary funded operation, though capital costs come out central budgets. It gets severely stretched during summer wood fires, often with significant loss of life. A few years ago, a fire chief here was imprisoned for using his fire fighting helicopter to take tourists up to photograph the fires. About once every three months we have a huge and noisy parade of every emergency service vehicle in the district just to remind people to give money at the collection points by the ferry and bus station.

 

[Iconoclast99]

Real Londoners remember the smog that lasted until the late 1950s.

A plume of smoke won't bother them. London Smog contained noxious chemicals, lasted for weeks and was sometimes so thick that you couldn't see your feet - that was worrying. Every winter it caused thousands of unnecessary deaths.[/QUOTE

Your nostalgia can be satisfied. Just go to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the old memories (and coughs) will be vivid again. There is even talk by the IOC that if the pollution isn't cleared up by the time that the Olympics start they may have to reschedule some of the more breath-intensive events like the marathon.

Iconoclast