RESIDENTS evacuated due to a fire which tore through two warehouses have now returned home.

Last Thursday, around 200 residents were evacuated after two warehouses caught alight in Canal Approach, Deptford.

There were several explosions after the fire broke out and a 200m exclusion zone was set up after the discovery of gas cylinders.

The majority of residents were evacuated from Inwen Court, Grinstead Road, Deptford, but returned to their homes on Monday.

Lewisham Council evacuated the residents to Deptford Park Primary School, Evelyn Street, but then moved them to Evelyn Community Centre, Kingfisher Square, to allow pupils into the school on Friday.

The council then put 15 residents up in Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley Hill, Bromley, over the weekend.

Sir Francis Drake Primary School, Scawen Road, was closed on Friday because of the fire but re-opened on Monday.

Resident Chiew Chuah says he only found out about the blaze when emergency services alerted him to it.

The 28-year-old engineer of Grinstead Road, Deptford, said: "A police officer woke me up. I went outside and saw a big cloud of smoke and ran back inside to get my jeans.

"I was at the school and it was really strange, you see everyone, all the faces you have never seen before. People were just sitting around."

Deptford MP Joan Ruddock said: "I heard about the fire at 8am on Friday morning and immediately contacted the police and Lewisham Council.

"They were able to reassure me there was no loss of life or personal injury and the fire brigade was keeping the blaze from spreading until they could extinguish it.

"I was kept informed throughout and am delighted by Monday lunchtime all residents had been allowed back into their homes."

The blaze caused chaos on the trains on Friday.

Many were cancelled or diverted as the fire was close to train lines going into London.

Ms Ruddock added: "The severe disruption to train services was obviously a considerable nuisance to people but prompt action all round undoubtedly limited the potential for personal injury and damage to residential properties."

Deptford crew manager Kevin Gergan, who attended the blaze, said: "It was an intense fire and got worse through the night."

The gas cylinders found at the scene were not as close to flames as first believed.

They were eventually moved to a safe area to cool down.

Around 10 fire appliances and 50 firefighters dealt with the fire.

The cause of the blaze is still being investigated.

Fire crews from Deptford, Lewisham and Forest Hill were called to the blaze at 12.30am on Thursday.

They used aerial appliances to tackle the flames so they did not get to close to the gas cylinders.

Thermal imaging cameras were also used to see whether a cylinder had warmed up.

It took fire crews until 2.34pm on Thursday to get the blaze under control.

Fire crews remained at the scene for a day damping the area down.

The fire destroyed around 75 per cent of two buildings, which were used as a brewery storage unit and a building contractor's warehouse.

Both buildings have now been demolished to ensure the blaze has been extinguished.

l Six fire engines and around 30 firefighters were called to a fire in a scrapyard in nearby Trundley's Road, Deptford, at 9pm last Saturday.

The fire destroyed the whole of the scrapyard and 20 residents from nearby buildings were evacuated.

Crews from Deptford, New Cross, Greenwich, East Greenwich, Old Kent Road and Dowgate fire stations dealt with the blaze.

It was under control by 12.40am on Sunday but firefighters remained at the scene the following day damping the area down.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the police and the fire brigade.

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