Frying tonight: Fire crew tackles blaze in chippy
2:30pm Monday 25th August 2008
An investigation has been launched after a fire broke out in a fish and chip shop causing staff and nearby residents to be evacuated.
A young family who live directly above the Whitton Fish Bar in Nelson Road, on the Hounslow/Whitton border, had to be helped from their flat on the morning of Friday, August 15, as thick black smoke filled their home.
Hairdressers at The Cutting Crew salon next-door said the owners of the fast-food restaurant had been on holiday until the day before the 11am blaze.
Carmen Maynard, 21, said she and her colleagues were kept back by firefighters for half-an-hour as flames destroyed the counter near where the chips were fried. She said: “Three fire engines came and told us we all had to get out. We had three customers and they all had to go out with their rollers in.
“The fire brigade got in there and got it before it got worse. There was loads of black smoke coming out the shop door.”
Jacquie Townes, manager of the salon, went to the flat above the fish and chip shop to alert a couple and their daughter.
Ms Maynard said: “The little girl was scared and stayed down the alleyway because she did not want to come out the front.”
Firefighters went to the scene after witnesses called the emergency services at about 11.10am. Three fire engines carrying 15 firefighters from Heston, Feltham and Twickenham stations brought the blaze under control.
A brigade spokesman said the cause of the fire was under investigation. The shop was closed for business last week.