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Camden New Journal - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 1 November 2007

Phone footage of fire leaping through the pavement

Ever seen a Pond go up in flames?

FLAMES erupted from between a crack in the pavement in Hampstead yesterday (Wednesday), after a suspected power surge caused an electricity junction to malfunction.
A woman standing at a bus stop in Pond Street who was just feet away from the fire fled in terror, onlookers said.
Despite the thick black smoke that filled the street, the Royal Free Hospital, which is situated on Pond Street, did not close its doors.
Construction workers renovating St Stephen’s church in Rosslyn Hill described hearing a low rumble beneath their feet before a big bang sounded at around 10am.
“We thought the church was falling down,” said Danny Higgins, a diamond driller. “As soon as we heard the rumble we ran. It went on for around five minutes and then it stopped, and there was a big bang. We didn’t know what it was – it’s not everyday you see flames coming out of the pavement.”
He was one of the team who put out the flames which had engulfed a nearby gate, although none of the workmen attempted to dampen the fire within the ground in case it was electrical.
Mr Higgins warned that if the woman by the bus had been standing any nearer to the flames she could have been seriously injured. “A few steps left and she’d have been sizzled,” he said, describing how as soon she saw the fire she ran, leaving her shopping bags behind.
“Her sausages were cooked,” he mused.
Police arrived at the scene within minutes and cordoned off a stretch of the road, leaving the police tape up for more than an hour while they investigated the cause of the fire.
Children at the school next to the church – all dressed in Halloween costumes – were evacuated and took shelter in a nearby gym.

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