At around 1600hrs on Thursday 25th May, a fire started due to an electrical fault in a drinks chiller cabinet in a 40m x20m retail unit at the Riverdale Shopping Complex in Hither Green, London. The complex comprises 74 units over a single floor footprint of about 100m x 100m.
There were 10 staff and 20 customers in the shop at the time and all told about 150 persons safely evacuated the centre due to the fire.
Upon arrival. London Fire Brigade personnel deployed breathing apparatus wearers with a hose reel but the fire was being controlled by a single sprinkler head in close proximity to the seat of the fire.
Fire service crews extinguished the fire while the smoke extraction system assisted in clearing the fumes and smoke from the affected area. A stop message was sent after 57 minutes and because of the late hour, the shop reopened the next day.