Around 50 residents had to be evacuated from their homes after fire ripped through a block of flats on the Grahame Park estate.

The blaze in Kemp block, near The Concourse, started in the early hours of Thursday morning and took firefighters three hours to extinguish.

Its entire roof was damaged along with a four-room flat on the sixth floor. The rest of the block suffered extensive smoke and water damage.

Huseyin Poyraz, who lives in nearby Guilfoyle block on the the estate, said he was woken by a helicopter circling overhead.

He said: "I got up and saw there was a fire in Kemp block and I stayed up to watch until about 2am or 3am.

"It was a huge fire. It started from one edge of the roof and, with the wind blowing, it moved to the other end.

"One fireman was up in the air on a ladder. He was almost lost in the smoke. It was horrifying."

The fire started in a flat on the sixth floor at about 12.50am, and flames spread rapidly to the roof.

Mr Poyraz said he saw a few people running around and heard them screaming, apparently in shock.

Assistant Divisional Officer Steve Gleeson, commander at Mill Hill fire station, said it took three hours to extinguish the fire, and six pumping appliances and two ladders were used.

An elderly man was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, while other residents were evacuated to the nearby community centre.

The cause of the fire was unknown and was under investigation.

Firefighters recommended residents fit smoke alarms in their properties to give them early warning of fires.

For fire prevention advice contact your local fire station.

May 29, 2003 13:30