[LFB]

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A HISTORIC old fire station that was turned into a five-star hotel has been partially “destroyed” by a major blaze that started in a pizza oven.

Twenty years after the Manchester Square fire station’s last watch left the building for the final time, it was engulfed in flames on Friday (see above).

The Chiltern Firehouse had been set to host a post-Bafta film awards party hosted by Netflix on Sunday evening with Hollywood stars Timothée Chalamet and Demi Moore due to attend.

Over 100 people evacuated and fire spread from the ground floor restaurant to the roof of the four-storey hotel in Chiltern Street, Marylebone.

The roof and third floor were destroyed, as well as around half of the second floor, and a small part of the ground floor was damaged.

London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Paul McCourt, the incident commander at the scene, said: “Crews worked incredibly hard for over eight hours in arduous conditions. Presented with a complex fire, in a historically significant building, formerly Manchester Square fire station, firefighters successfully contained the fire to one property, preventing it from spreading to neighbouring properties.

“Around 100 people evacuated the building before the brigade arrived…”.

No injuries had been reported.

In June 2005 the Extra reported on the station’s final day as the curtain came down on 119 years of firefighting history.

At the time, the public came out to thank firefighters who lined up outside the station and were told they were being moved to stations across the capital.

Residents had amassed a 2,500-strong petition against the closure and were also in talks to set up some kind of privately-funded alternative after the historic fire station’s last commander Tim Kyte sounded a warning: “How would you like it if you were told you had to get up and leave your job and move across London?

“I’m concerned about the fire cover here.

“It doesn’t take a genius to see that less firemen means less cover. The nature of emergencies is that they are unexpected.”

The Marylebone area is now covered by the Paddington, Soho and Euston fire stations.

Manchester Square station was built in 1889 and named after the nearby square.

It was designed by the London County Council’s architects department with red brick and stone dressings, in “Tudor-Gothic” style.

The Chiltern Firehouse hotel and restaurant, there since 2013, is now temporarily closed, and the post-Bafta party was moved on Sunday night to The Twenty Two luxury hotel in Grosvenor Square.

Fire crews from Euston, Soho, Paddington, West Hampstead, Kensington, Chelsea, attended the fire with the first of 13 calls being taken just before 3pm on Friday.

LFB said the fire, believed accidental, “was caused by burning wood falling from a pizza oven and igniting the void between the basement and ground floor”.

More than 63 fire engines attended the incident, alongside 23 special appliances and 25 officers.

On its website the Chiltern Firehouse hotel and restaurant said: “Due to the recent fire, we will remain closed until further notice.”