The Associated Press
LONDON — Firefighters dug through the wreckage of London’s famous Camden market Sunday, trying to find out what started a large blaze that seriously damaged the market and surrounding buildings.
It took 100 firefighters about three hours to put out the fire on Saturday night. The blaze sent flames high up into the sky over northern London and caused major damage to clothes and craft market stalls — and to buildings such as the Hawley Arms, an iconic pub frequented by celebrities such as singer Amy Winehouse, rocker Pete Doherty and model Kate Moss.
There were no casualties.
“In a word, I’m devastated,” Ruth Charles-Ridler, the pub’s landlady, said as she arrived at the scene to assess the damage Sunday morning. “Everyone I’ve spoken to is in complete shock. This was a good community pub where everybody knew everybody else. It is a great loss to Camden Town.”
TimeOut magazine had hailed Hawley Arms as “London’s hippest pub.”
The fire began at about 7 p.m. (1900GMT) in a small warren of market stalls and spread north and west to engulf shops and apartments along Camden High Street, where the pub is located. On Sunday, London Fire Brigade crews were still pouring water onto the smoldering rubble.
“It’s quite a heavy blow,” said Steve Norris, a local business owner. He said so many shops in the area are small businesses that they could have a difficult time coping with a big fall in customers.
The normally crowded commercial and residential area, complete with open markets and canals, is one of the British capital’s top shopping and tourist destinations.
Sunday is traditionally the busiest day of the week for shoppers at Camden Town’s shops, coffee houses, pubs and markets.
Police kept the burned-out area closed with a cordon on Sunday morning, but allowed tourists and shoppers to use a large part of the unaffected Camden High Street commercial area.
Firefighters said it was too early to say what caused the disaster. About 40 firefighters were working their way through the remaining “hot spots” toward the center of the blaze, said senior firefighter Guy Foster. Their progress was hampered by structurally unsafe buildings, and the operation was expected to last several days.
Some roads, sidewalks, subway and train lines remained closed in the area.
Among the disappointed tourists was Marie-Francoise Tagnais.
“I’m going back to France today and I wanted to see this market, which is famous in London,” she said. “So I am disappointed.”