Ten fire trucks and 70 personnel were deployed this Saturday to respond to a fire at the emblematic Somerset House building, located in central London and on the banks of the River Thames.
This was confirmed on Saturday by the London Fire Brigade via its X account in response to a photograph by user Michelle Bikby, who appeared “somewhat disturbed” by the amount of smoke coming out of the building. According to the fire brigade in a statement, The causes of the fire are still unknown.
Firefighters have sent “two 32-metre ladders from the brigade to the scene to support firefighting operations” and announced that traffic in the surrounding area will be affected while the firefighting work by the deployed teams continues.
According to the statement, the brigade’s control officers attended more than ten calls regarding the fire throughout the morning and several teams from nearby stations went to the scene.
The building concerned, the neoclassical Somerset House, is Grade I listed for its historic and national value, and only 2.5% of buildings in the UK are given such status, which it shares with Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Tower Bridge in London.
Built in the 18th century on the north bank of the Thames by architect William Chambers on the site of a Tudor palace, it originally housed government offices, learned societies and the Naval Office.
Now a cultural centre and tourist attraction, Somerset House houses two major art collections, the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Gilbert Collection of Decorative Arts, and is the headquarters of Britain’s Royal Society of Literature.
