Pizza oven caused fire at celebrity hangout hotel

A fire that tore through a luxury London hotel favoured by celebrities was caused by wood falling from a pizza oven.

The Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone, which had been due to host a post-Bafta Film Awards party on Sunday evening, was partially destroyed by the fire on 14 February.

The flames spread through the four-storey hotel in central London via ducting, damaging parts of the ground floor and half of the second floor and destroying the third floor and roof, London Fire Brigade said.

The fire service said the fire had been started accidentally "by burning wood falling from a pizza oven and igniting the void between the basement and ground floor".

The five-star hotel in Marylebone was a former fire station, built in the 1880s.

London Brigade assistant commissioner Paul McCourt said: "Crews worked incredibly hard for over eight hours in arduous conditions.

"Presented with a complex fire in a historically significant building, formerly Manchester Square Fire Station, firefighters successfully contained the fire, preventing it from spreading to neighbouring properties."

Around 100 people were evacuated and no injuries were reported.

More than 120 firefighters and 20 fire engines were called to the scene.

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