The blaze broke out in a flat opposite a primary school in Cornwall Avenue around 11.30pm last night (April 9).
60 firefighters rushed to the fire and rescued seven people from the inferno, which damaged flats across three floors.
They used fire escape hoods, a technology introduced in 2018 after the Grenfell Tower fire.
The hoods give people up to 15 minutes protection from dangerous gasses by filtering the smoke.
A video shows the flames erupting out of the building and licking the walls, while onlookers made a total of 36 calls to the emergency services.
Before the eight fire engines arrived the fire service gave three residents vital fire survival guidance.
Crews from Shadwell, Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, Poplar and surrounding fire stations got it under control by around 1pm the next morning (April 10).
The cause of the fire is now under investigation.
