Fire at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium

Firefighters had the blaze control by 3.45am 2005 AFP

Flames tore through part of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in the early hours of this morning.

Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in.

Two security guards discovered the blaze in a kitchen at around 2am and initially tried to tackle the flames themselves before being overcome by smoke and dialling 999.

Four fire engines and 20 firefighters from Holloway, Kentish Town and Islington fire stations attended the incident and managed to bring the fire under control by 3.45am, preventing it from damaging any other parts of the stadium in Holloway.

Part of the ground floor kitchen was left damaged and the two security guards were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, but did not require hospital treatment.

Watch Manager Surjit Singh, from Kentish Town fire station, who was in charge of the incident, said: "A fire alarm alerted a couple of security guards to the fire who went to investigate. Initially they attempted to deal with it themselves but quickly realised they needed our help and rang 999.

"Firefighters were on the scene within minutes of being called, and even though a couple of them are Spurs fans, they all worked really hard to bring the fire under control and managed to prevent it from affecting other parts of the stadium. From a fire brigade perspective it was a job well done."

Fire investigators were called to establish how the fire started and the cause is thought to have been accidental.