Key Points
- A man has died following a fire at a first-floor flat in a block of flats on Darndale Close, Priory Court estate, Walthamstow, east London, just days before Christmas.
- London Fire Brigade (LFB) firefighters were called to the blaze at around 7am on Monday, with the incident logged at 7.08am and the fire brought under control by about 8.15am.
- The fire affected a small part of a first-floor home within the block of flats, with smoke and fire damage reported inside the property.
- The male casualty was taken from the Priory Court estate to hospital, where he was pronounced dead the following day.
- Two other people left the building before London Fire Brigade crews arrived at the scene.
- Control officers mobilised fire crews from Walthamstow and surrounding stations to tackle the blaze.
- London Ambulance Service (LAS) deployed an ambulance crew, an incident response officer, a clinical team manager, hazardous area response team (HART) paramedics and a trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance.
- LAS said they treated one patient at the scene before taking them to hospital.
- Fire investigation officers from London Fire Brigade are examining the scene and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
- Police and other emergency services were also scrambled to Priory Court in Walthamstow as part of the response to the incident.
- The death comes just days before Christmas, casting a shadow over the Priory Court estate and the wider Walthamstow community.
What happened at the Walthamstow block of flats?
The incident unfolded on Monday morning when a fire broke out in a first-floor flat within a block of flats on Darndale Close, part of the Priory Court estate in Walthamstow, east London. As reported by the London Evening Standard, the blaze damaged a small part of the first-floor home but was serious enough to trigger a full-scale emergency response and ultimately led to the death of a male resident.
According to coverage republished via Yahoo News, which attributes details to London Evening Standard reporting, the London Fire Brigade was called shortly after 7am, with the incident time logged as 7.08am on Monday. Before firefighters arrived, two people managed to leave the building, while the male casualty was later found and taken to hospital from the Priory Court estate.
How did emergency services respond to the fire?
As reported by London Evening Standard journalists and carried by Yahoo News, London Fire Brigade control officers mobilised crews from Walthamstow and nearby fire stations immediately after the 7.08am call. Firefighters tackled the blaze in the first-floor flat and had the fire under control by around 8.15am, limiting the spread of flames and smoke to a small section of the property.
In parallel, emergency medical resources were rapidly sent to the scene. A report by Yahoo News, drawing on a detailed statement from London Ambulance Service, states that LAS dispatched an ambulance crew, an incident response officer, a clinical team manager and paramedics from its hazardous area response team, alongside a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance. UKNIP (UK News in Pictures) further notes that police, paramedics, London Fire Brigade units and a HART team all attended Priory Court as part of what it described as a “serious incident”.
What have London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service said?
In material carried by Yahoo News taken from the London Evening Standard’s reporting, a London Fire Brigade spokesperson confirmed that firefighters were called at 7.08am to a fire affecting a small part of a first-floor home on Darndale Close. The spokesperson said crews from Walthamstow and surrounding stations were mobilised and that the blaze was extinguished by 8.15am, with two people noted to have left the building before firefighters arrived.
London Ambulance Service released a detailed statement on its deployment to the incident, as quoted in the same Yahoo News report. As reported by the Yahoo News article drawing on LOS reporters, LAS said:
“We were called at 7.10am to reports of an incident on Darndale Close, Walthamstow. We sent resources to the scene including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer, a clinical team manager and paramedics from our hazardous area response team. We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance. We treated a patient and took them to hospital.”
What is known about the victim and his condition?
Reports from the London Evening Standard, echoed in summaries shared by Yahoo News and other outlets, state that the casualty was a man who was taken from the Priory Court estate to hospital following the fire. According to these accounts, he was sadly pronounced dead the following day, indicating that he survived the initial incident but succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
At the time of writing, the man has not been publicly named and further personal details such as age or background have not been officially released in the articles accessible on mainstream and local outlets. UKNIP’s separate report on a “serious incident at Priory Court” notes that the situation in the area involved multiple emergency services and that details remained unclear, but it does not add further personal information about the victim beyond what is carried by other sources.
What do local and regional media say about the location and timing?
Local and regional coverage consistently places the incident at Darndale Close on the Priory Court estate in Walthamstow, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Hits Radio London briefly reports that the fire broke out just after 7am on Monday 22 December at a first-floor flat on Darndale Close, noting that a man died following the blaze.
Social media posts and links shared by local outlets, including references to a Guardian-series article via the East London Guardian’s Facebook page, describe the incident as a flat fire in Walthamstow in the run-up to Christmas and state that the man died the day before Christmas Eve. These posts are consistent with regional reporting that the tragedy occurred only days before Christmas, casting a sombre mood over the local community at a time of year usually associated with celebration.
How is the cause of the fire being investigated?
In the London Evening Standard report, cited in Yahoo News, a London Fire Brigade spokesperson is quoted as saying that the cause of the fire is under investigation. No further technical detail on the origin point, possible ignition sources or any suspected contributing factors has yet been made public through the articles currently available.
A separate article by UKNIP, focusing on emergency services activity at Priory Court in Walthamstow, explains that experts from London Fire Brigade’s fire investigation unit attended the scene and confirms that the nature of the incident was still being clarified at the time of that report. UKNIP also notes that official statements from the Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade were being sought, underlining that aspects of the case remain subject to ongoing inquiry.
How have emergency services previously highlighted fire safety in Walthamstow?
While unrelated to the Darndale Close incident, London Fire Brigade has recently used other Walthamstow fires to underline fire safety messages relevant to homes and mixed-use buildings. In a December statement about a separate fire at a restaurant with dwellings above on Wood Street in Walthamstow, the Brigade reminded Londoners about the dangers of unattended cooking and the risks posed by hot oil, grease build-up and distraction in the kitchen.
In that earlier case, a London Fire Brigade spokesperson stressed that cooking should never be left unattended on hobs or grills and advised people to keep cooking areas clean and to consider using electric deep fat fryers with automatic temperature controls. Although that guidance relates to a different incident, it reflects the broader safety concerns that investigators often consider when examining the causes and circumstances of residential fires in London.
What is the impact on the Priory Court community?
Coverage by regional outlets and social media shares, including those referencing Guardian-series reporting, frame the man’s death as a tragic blow to the Walthamstow community so close to Christmas. The timing of the incident, described as taking place just days before Christmas and with the man dying the day before Christmas Eve, has heightened the sense of shock and sadness on the Priory Court estate.
With police, fire crews, ambulance services and specialist teams all attending Priory Court, UKNIP’s description of a “serious incident” underscores the scale of the response witnessed by residents. The combination of a fatality, a major emergency operation and the festive period has left local people facing a sombre holiday season while investigators continue their work to establish how the fire started and whether any wider safety issues need to be addressed.
