Four fire engines with 25 firefighters from Southall, Northolt, Ealing and Wembley fire stations tackled a house fire on Ferrymead Avenue in Greenford on Wednesday (9 August 2023) afternoon.
The London Fire Brigade was called at 4:25pm and the fire was under control by 6:57pm. There were no reports of any injuries but part of the roof of the semi-detached house was damaged by fire. Firefighters also rescued a pet snake from a first-floor bedroom.
According to local witness David, the occupants were rehoused by Ealing Council for the night and residents have also offered those impacted by the house fire a place to stay as needed.
London Fire Brigade also revealed that the fire is believed to have been accidental and involved a solar panel. As a result, firefighters used PVStop, which is a black liquid polymer coating designed to cover solar panels like a liquid tarpaulin, to isolate power to ten solar panels.
The Brigade said: “It works by blocking the sunlight that powers solar panels, so the process of converting light into electricity is stopped. The panels are then de-energised, and the risk of electrocution is greatly reduced so crews can get closer and prevent fire spreading from a roof to the rest of the building.”