EXCLUSIVE:A car fire broke out on Whitehorse Road in Croydon at around 5.30pm on Tuesday, sending a thick plume of smoke billowing above the street and drawing a London Fire Brigade response as the capital sweltered under some of the hottest temperatures recorded in May for over a decade.
Photographs from the scene at 119 Whitehorse Road show at least one London Fire Brigade engine in attendance, with firefighters working to bring the blaze under control as yellow cordon tape was stretched across the road to keep back onlookers who had gathered to watch. Dense white smoke could be seen rising high above the treeline as crews tackled the fire in the early evening sunshine.
Bystanders were seen standing back behind the cordon as officers and fire crews worked at the scene. Traffic in the area appeared to have been brought to a standstill, with vehicles held back from the immediate vicinity.
The incident comes as the capital and much of southern England endures an unprecedented Bank Holiday heatwave, with the Met Office confirming temperatures reached 30C at Heathrow earlier in the day — officially meeting the criteria for a heatwave for the third consecutive day. Amber heat health alerts are in place across London and much of the South East.
Extreme heat is a known factor in vehicle fires, with high ambient temperatures capable of placing additional stress on cooling systems, tyres and other mechanical components. The London Fire Brigade and Metropolitan Police had not issued a formal statement on the Croydon incident at the time of publication.
