Man fighting for life after fire at Studio 338 nightclub in Greenwich Peninsula

Fifteen fire engines and 100 firefighters fought the blaze at Studio 338 in Boord Street, which sparked over 50 calls to the brigade.

Fourteen men who were arrested on suspicion of arson and taken into custody at various south London police stations have since been de-arrested.

Firefighters rescued a man, in his twenties, from the burning building and he was taken to an east London hospital by air ambulance.

He is being treated for burns and remains in a critical condition.

Patrick Swift, who lives in Idonia Street, Deptford was cycling past and saw several people trying to escape from the roof just before it went up in flames.

Mr Swift, 40, said: “The fire had just started smoking, and I stopped and within a couple of minutes people appeared on the roof.

“They seemed to be getting luggage, there was a small child and a mother.

“It all got very frantic because the flames appeared very quickly, at one point the flames were almost licking them.

“When I cycled past I saw smoke and stopped and there were people outside the actual nightclub, and then suddenly all these people appeared out of nowhere.

“It went from black smoke to flames quickly, they were very, very lucky, especially the last person to get off, the flames were getting bigger and bigger. It was a remarkable sight.”

Video by Marcus Hibbert.

Four fire engines and 20 firefighters are still at the scene this morning after working through the night.

Group Manager Mark Hazelton who is at the scene said: "Crews will remain at the scene throughout this morning damping down the nightclub from outside the building as it is too structurally unsafe for our firefighters to enter. 

"We are also dealing with remaining deep seated pockets of fire on the paper processing site."

As well as the first and ground floors of the club, the blaze spread to an industrial warehouse which was completely alight.

A scrap paper processing yard containing a number of outbuildings was also affected by the fire, along with around 40 pallets of paper.

Ray Auston, 53, from Greenwich Millennium Village, told News Shopper: "I could see it earlier, from up by the roundabout. There was thick dense acrid smoke.

"Black ash was actually falling near where I live, probably for about an hour."

London Ambulance Service (LAS) had two officers, two ambulances and a tactical advisor at the scene, as well as an air ambulance which landed in the area.

Photo: @joelinyard

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: "Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued a man who has been taken to hospital by ambulance.

"This is a large fire and the smoke could be seen from across London, meaning we received a large number of emergency calls.

"Firefighters will be at the scene for the rest of the day, and possibly into the evening."

London Fire Brigade were initially called at 11.43am and the fire was under control by 11.15pm.

A safety cordon was set up as gas cylinders were involved in the fire and LAS warned residents to keep windows and doors closed due to smoke.

Boord Street remains closed but Millenium way has now re-opened.

Video: JD Singfield

In a statement released yesterday Studio 338's general manager wrote: "Although this is of course a very sad and upsetting day for everyone who has worked, performed or partied at Studio 338, right now we have stay positive and strong.

"I and the awesome team here will do everything and anything to get us all back dancing together as soon as possible."

Video: Tracy Daniels

Did you see what happened? Call 01689 885721 or email jessica.clark@london.newsquest.co.uk.