Yahoo Finance Investigation after fire destroys heritage-listed church in London
A huge fire has destroyed a heritage-listed church in London with the cause of the blaze now under investigation.
Footage shared by the London Fire Brigade shows the blaze engulfing the two-storey St Mark's Church in St John's Wood, northwest London.
Eighty firefighters and 12 fire engines were on the scene and motorists were urged to avoid the area.
There have been no reports of any injuries due to the blaze.
Three turntable ladders - including the tallest one in Europe at 64 metres - were used as water towers.
The fire brigade were first alerted to the incident at 11.19pm on Thursday night and the blaze was under control by 2:22am on Friday morning.
The cause of the blaze is now under investigation.
The fire was producing a significant amount of smoke in the local area and residents were advised to keep their windows and doors closed.
The National Churches Trust lists St Mark's as a Grade II Victorian church, containing "stunning" mosaics by the Salviati family as well as highly decorative marble flooring in the chancel.
The Anglican church is located near Abbey Road Studios and Lord's Cricket Ground, and has links to author Lewis Carroll and Queen Victoria's son Prince Leopold.
The trust describes it as an "architectural and historical treasure", which finished construction between 1846 and 1847 in the Gothic style to the design of architect Thomas Cundy Junior.
Crews from North Kensington, Paddington, West Hampstead and surrounding fire stations attended the scene.
Church will be "sorely missed" in community
Local resident Shohaib Shah said he was "devastated" watching the church burn on Thursday evening, adding that it will be "sorely missed by the community".
"I thought a family member may have burnt something when making food... I took a look outside where I could see lots of smoke covering the street and an orange light in the sky and emergency services going around the corner towards Abercorn Place," the 21-year-old told the PA news agency.
"When I arrived there at 12.22am, the fire was ferocious and I could see that it wouldn't stop any time soon because it looked like it was reigniting every few minutes.
"There was another onlooker standing next to me who said 'it's like Grenfell all over again'.
"I'm devastated, I remember seeing children and families going in and sometimes during the summer you would see families sitting and relaxing outside in the gardens - it's going to be sorely missed in the community."
