A total of 15 fire engines and 100 firefighters tackled the fire in Aberdeen Place in St John’s Wood on Tuesday (April 19).
A plume of smoke rose above London, and the brigade control room received the first of 170 calls at 5.29am, with the first fire engine on the scene at 5.32am.
An electrical transformer had caught fire, but work to put it out could not start until UK Power Networks arrived to make the substation safe.
Its officers arrived within 30 minutes of being called, but work to extinguish the fire only took place at 7am, by which point part of a neighbouring block of flats had been damaged.
Father-of-three Mohammed Nur accused the emergency services of “reacting too late”.
He had woken up at 5.30am and saw fire outside his window but was not evacuated until after 7am.
He added: “If they had put the crane up and put the water on time the houses would be saved.”
Fire crews at the substation blaze (Image: Sanna Daw)
A UK Power Networks spokesperson said: “Our engineers were on site within 30 minutes of the call from London Fire Brigade.
“The substation processes high voltage electricity, and we were able to provide access for firefighters as soon as it had been made safe.”
A fire brigade spokesperson said they couldn’t direct firefighting operations until the power had been isolated by UKPN.
They said: “We requested UK Power Networks attendance as soon as we arrived on scene.
“The fire was affecting an electrical substation in a secure compound. Before crews could commence firefighting operations, the power supply to the substation had to be isolated.
“It was a technically complex fire and the use of water on a fire of this nature can be dangerous.”
The cause of the fire is being investigated by London Fire Brigade, UK Power Networks and the Metropolitan Police.
