A fire broke out on the morning of Saturday 17 August on the roof of Somerset House, an art centre located in the heart of London, where around a hundred firefighters are currently working to fight the blaze, the British capital's fire service announced.
“Fifteen fire engines and around 100 firefighters were sent to fight the fire at Somerset House”for now located “on part of the roof of the building”specifies the brigade on X.
Videos posted on social media showed a thick cloud of smoke billowing from the roof of the museum, a historic building dating from 1796 on the banks of the River Thames. Traffic around the centre will be “disrupted by the intervention of the firefighters”warned the fire department, which said it received a first alert call around 12 noon (1 p.m. Paris time).
“Somerset House is currently closed due to a fire in a small part of the building. All staff and members of the public are safe.”the center said on X. “London Fire Brigade arrived quickly and we are working closely with them to control the spread of the fire.”he added.
This building has been made famous by several films which were filmed there, such as Love Actually (2003), two James Bond films and Sleepy Hollowby Tim Burton (1999).
Source: Lemonde
