Fire engulfs celebrity haunt Chiltern Firehouse as 100 evacuated from luxury hotel

14 February 2025, 21:43 | Updated: 15 February 2025, 00:34

A fire broke out at the Chiltern Firehouse on Friday, leading to around one hundred people being evacuated from the luxury London hotel.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said on Friday evening that 20 fire engines and around 125 firefighters were called to a blaze on Chiltern Street in Marylebone.

It added that officers were first called at 2.52pm, with the cause of the fire unknown.

In a statement, the LFB said: "There is a fire in ducting which leads from the ground floor to the roof of the four-storey hotel with a restaurant on the ground floor." They added that a plant room at roof level had also caught fire.

"Around one hundred people have evacuated the building before the brigade arrived."

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The Chiltern Firehouse is known for being frequented by celebrities and was the location of Kylie Minogue's 50th birthday party in 2018.

The Chiltern Firehouse will likely need a "large refurbishment", a firefighter has said.

Speaking near the scene of the fire, the firefighter said: "It's (the fire) completely under control in there now, but the hotel is probably going to need a large refurbishment.

"I don't think anyone was injured because of the evacuation earlier."

They added that the fire was still going in the building next door and a cordon was likely to be in place overnight.

A cordon is preventing access to the streets surrounding the five-star hotel, with vehicles being diverted away from Chiltern Street.

An employee at the hotel said it was due to host an event for the Baftas on Sunday.

A recent graduate walking home from work said he saw "embers" and an "orange glow" coming from a window at the Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone after a blaze broke out on Friday evening.

Guy Fischman, 23, from Richmond, London, was leaving his workplace near Bond Street when he said he saw "the whole street full of smoke".

"My coat stinks of smoke right now," Mr Fischman told the PA news agency. "There was really thick smoke and it got into the other street as well. I walked out and the visibility was awful."

"I did not expect it to be so bad especially seeing the embers coming from the window at the top because it was so dark you can just see the orange glow and they (the firefighters) were really trying to fight it with the water jets."

Mr Fischman said he saw emergency service vehicles near the Chiltern Firehouse at around 2pm on Friday, but did not see any smoke. At around 5pm when he left his workplace he said the road was closed off because "there were loads more fire engines" with large hoses and a crane.

"(The fire) definitely got bigger than expected. I didn't expect it to get so big seeing as the fire brigade got there quite early," he said. "The whole street was shut off and you could see the smoke from quite far away... it was crazy."

Andre Balazs, the owner of Chiltern Firehouse, said: "Earlier this evening, a fire broke out at Chiltern Firehouse. We are grateful to confirm that no-one was hurt, and our guests and staff safely evacuated. The fire has now been fully contained.

"It is with heartfelt gratitude and appreciation that we watched a remarkable 120 firefighters from over 14 stations rapidly descend on what they told me was a hugely sentimental building for so many of them.

"We know in fact one of those who rushed to the Chiltern Firehouse this evening had been stationed in the building when it was a fire station 30 years ago. I am truly grateful to all of them as I am sure that this is not the Valentine's Day evening they had in mind.

"As of now, as this is still a live situation we do not have confirmation of what may have caused the fire, but the fire services are investigating.

"In the meantime, the Chiltern Firehouse will remain closed until further notice."