A community garden in east London was rocked by ‘explosions’ which led to a blaze that ripped through a workshop.
The Garden of Earthly Delights was engulfed in smoke, with flames shooting into the night sky after fire broke out just after 10pm on Wednesday.
People living next to the garden on Graham Road, Hackney, were evacuated as firefighters tackled the blaze.
The wooden workshop at the end of the garden was left a charred shell, but the garden itself was saved thanks to the speedy response of the fire brigade, locals said.
Police were also scrambled to the scene, and an investigation is underway into what caused the fire.
The workshop has staff who train locals in carpentry and how to use tools. It was set up under two years ago after a crowd funder.
A volunteer at the workshop said he was ‘devastated’ as he inspected the damage.
He said: ‘It’s devastating. People have put so much effort in and now this. It’s heartbreaking. The staff go into the community and teach people skills like how to use a drill etc. Who knows how this happened. We will have to fundraiser again.’
A witness told : ‘There were two bangs and then loads of smoke and shooting flames. You could see the fire from across east London. Everyone loves the garden and there was a kind of recycling workshop that there was a crowd funder for. That has gone up in smoke. It’s such a shame. There was wood everywhere in the garden, maybe that contributed.’
Another said: ‘I live right next to the fire. I was evacuated. It was really, really scary. The fire was so intense the air was thick with smoke. The firefighters were here very fast. We managed to get back in our flat last night.’
The garden is run for the community, having been created on disused railway land.
Sheila Sachs, 72, who lives nearby, told : ‘We are heartbroken it’s such a lovely place to have a bit of calm and the people who run the workshop are lovely. I hope they can rebuild.’
The fire service said an initial investigation has revealed that the blaze was started by an electrical fault on a meter.
A fire brigade statement said: ‘Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters responded to a fire on Graham Road, Hackney.
‘The fire involved a community garden, where a range of allotments and structures were destroyed by the fire. A shed on the site was also partially damaged. There are no reports of any injuries.
‘The Brigade was first called about the fire at 2238, and crews from Homerton, Bethnal Green and Stoke Newington were sent to the scene. Crews had the fire under control by 2357.
‘The fire is believed to have been accidental, most likely caused by an electrical event in an electricity meter.’
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