Fire that engulfed celebrity haunt Chiltern Firehouse 'started in pizza oven' of luxury hotel

17 February 2025, 11:59

A Valentine's Day fire that broke out at a luxury hotel loved by celebrities allegedly started in a pizza oven.

The blaze that raged through the Chiltern Firehouse prompted the evacuation of around 100 people on Friday. 

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.

The Valentine's Day blaze caused immense damage after travelling through internal vents and up to the roof after spreading from the pizza oven, reports the London Standard. 

A witness said: “The hotel will need to be gutted and totally refurbished. It's very sad.”

The celebrity hotspot will reportedly remain closed until further notice.

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The Chiltern Firehouse was the location of Kylie Minogue's 50th birthday party in 2018 and was due to host an event for the Baftas on Sunday, according to an employee. 

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."