HUGE BLAZE
Watch shocking moment fire rips through high-rise block in London as over 100 evacuated
Watch the terrifying footage above
THIS is the moment a huge fire ripped through a high-rise block in London with over 100 people evacuated from their flats.
Forty fire engines and around 225 firefighters are battling a blaze at a block of flats on Freshwater Road in Dagenham, East London.
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The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it was called at 2.44am on Monday with crews from Dagenham, Ilford, Romford, Barking and surrounding fire stations at the scene.
The brigade said parts of the scaffolding surrounding the building, as well as the ground floor and the roof, were alight.
Two people have been taken to hospital.
A "significant" search and rescue operation is under way, the LFB said.
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Mum-of-one Emmanuelle Perraud, 54, spoke of her horror after inhaling thick smoke whilst fleeing the building.
She said: "I didn't hear any fire alarms, nobody knocked on the door. Luckily I woke up when I heard some commotion.
"I saw some people going down the stairs - I thought maybe they're just having fun. Then I saw some light and lots of smoke.
"I told my sister grab what you can and let's go. There were some sparks falling from the roof as well.
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"I tried not to panic too much but when I saw the smoke I inhaled a bit of it. It was scary."
The civil servant, how has lived in the building for six years, told how residents had been rallying for cladding to be taken off since the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster.
She added: "They started to move it in January but there was still some on the roof.
"We wanted it all gone because we knew what happened with Grenfell."
A man, whose six-year-old daughter was at a sleepover with friends in the building, told the that they were "calm now, but terrified".
Dinesh Raj said he got a call that the building was on fire at about 3am and dashed to the scene in his car.
He said the family got out immediately after they smelled smoke grabbing their six-month-old baby and his daughter.
Another resident of the tower block told the he fears his family have "lost everything".
Tariq Ziad, 17, lives in a flat on the fourth floor and described how quickly smoke engulfed the building.
He said: "One breath of [smoke] clenches your lungs, you can't breathe, it attacks you.
"It's a bit of a hectic thing, I'm still trying to let it sink in. We've lost everything but it is what it is at the end of the day."
Station Commander Alan Bendell, who is at the scene of the fire, said: "The fire is producing heavy smoke and we're advising local residents to keep windows and doors closed.
"Two of the Brigade's 32-metre turntable ladders are being used at the scene as aerial water towers to assist with tackling the fire from height.
"Freshwater Road is closed to traffic, so please avoid the area where possible."
The fire is producing heavy smoke and local residents are advised to keep windows and doors closed.
Freshwater Road is currently closed to traffic and people are urged to avoid the area where possible.
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: "We were called to the incident at 0244 this morning.
"The first crew arrived within five minutes and the second crew arrived within six minutes.
"An aerial appliance also arrived in under six minutes. To allow us to focus our resources on the incident, we have declared a major incident.
"The building has a number of fire safety issues known to London Fire Brigade.
"A full simultaneous evacuation of the building was immediately carried out and a significant search and rescue operation is underway.
"The Brigade's Control Officers have taken 16 calls to the fire, including successfully giving vital fire survival guidance to a number of people using our Fire Survival Guidance App, which allows information to be exchanged between Control and the incident ground in a timely, accurate and consistent manner.
"We are also using new equipment such as drones and our 64-metre turntable ladders and 32-metre turntable ladders to provide incident commanders with a vantage point for assessing the scene.
"They are also being used as water towers to deliver water on to the fire from above.
"The Brigade has stood up full strategic arrangements to deal with the incident and a rest centre has been set up at Beacontree Health and Leisure Centre.
"LFB officers are stationed at the rest centre to support residents."
The cause of the fire is not known at this time.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We were called at 2.52am today (26 August) to reports of a fire on Freshwater Road in Dagenham.
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"We sent a large number of resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, incident response officers, an advanced paramedic in critical care, emergency planning officers, a command support vehicle and members of our hazardous area response team (HART). We also dispatched London's Air Ambulance.
"We treated four patients at the scene and took two of them to a hospital."
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