Evening Standard/London
Around one hundred people were evacuated from the Shard yesterday morning after a fire broke out in a restaurant kitchen.
A spokesman for London Fire Bridage said the “very small” fire had started just after 11am in the oven of a restaurant on the 33rd floor of the iconic building, but was dealt with by the Shard’s sprinkler system.
Around one hundred people were evacuated from the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd floor, but the whole building was not affected.
One visitor, Katie Buckley, posted on twitter after being forced to evacuate the building.
She said: “Just had to walk 245m down stairs because there was a fire alarm at The Shard and all the lifts were broken.”
Another visitor, Sarah Grant, tweeted: “Stuck up #TheShard in London due to a fire alarm going off! Pity there isn’t a cafe up here!”
Seven fire engines and around 35 firefighters attended the incident.
LFB Station Manager Matt Burrows who was at the scene said: “The building’s sprinkler system did its job and suppressed the fire in its early stages, which prevented any serious damage.
“This incident highlights the clear benefits of sprinklers to businesses and we would urge all companies to install them.
“As well as being potentially life saving devices, sprinklers and other fire suppression systems help with business continuity by minimising disruption and allowing businesses to get back to normal as soon as possible.”
A spokewoman for The Shard said: “”A small oven fire in one restaurant immediately set off the sprinkler system.
“All three restaurants have been evacuated and the London Fire Brigade has attended as per standard procedure.”
Susanna Reid and the Good Morning Britain team had to be evacuated from the studio as their live broadcast was interrupted by a fire alarm.
The entire cast and crew had to be escorted from the building mid-interview yesterday morning as the ITV morning programme cut to pre-recorded footage.
Reid and co-anchor Ben Shepherd were in the middle of interviewing the Emmerdale cast in a live feed from the set when the alarm started going off.
Ever the professionals, the hosts kept smiling despite the furore and told viewers that they were going to have to cut the interview short and vacate the premises.
Reid said: “Right, we’re going to leave the studio, and that means we’re going to leave you with, what we call in the business, standby tape.”
Shepherd added: “We need to leave, have a good day, we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Clearly in good spirits, Shepherd later Instagrammed a selfie with Reid and Charlotte Hawkins, admitting that they were still in the dark about what had happened.
He wrote: “We’ve been evacuated not sure why -@CharlotteHawkns is v happy as you can see. @susannareid100@gmb.”
A representative for ITV has told Evening Standard Online: “It was an isolated incident which was quickly resolved. The building was evacuated as a precaution.”
Fire crews at the base of the Shard.
