A gigantic fire erupted at a warehouse in north London this evening.
Fifteen fire engines and 90 firefighters were called to the blaze at a paint factory in Waterloo Road, Staples Corner.
Dramatic pictures show the extent of the inferno, which could ‘be seen for miles around’ and broke out just before 9.30pm off the busy North Circular Road.
The fire service battled for three hours before the flames were brought under control at 12.22am.
The London Fire Brigade has now confirmed ‘factory workers left the building’ before they arrived and no one is believed to have been injured.
Fifteen fire engines and 90 firefighters were called to the blaze in Waterloo Road, Staples Corner
Firefighters were called to the blaze, which sent blue acrid smoke across the far north of London, at around 9.20pm
The flames engulfed a paint factory just off the North Circular Road near Brent Cross
Dramatic pictures show the extent of the inferno, which could ‘be seen for miles around’ and broke out just before 9.30pm off the busy North Circular Road
Met Police’s Barnet force tweeted a dramatic picture of a fireball above the paint factory
Thick blue and black acrid smoke could be seen billowing across the north London skyline, with one neighbour saying he could see fireballs shooting into the night.
People were warned to avoid the area and local residents told to shut their windows and doors.
Concerned passers-by took to social media to alert others of the blaze, which was described by some as a ‘huge fireball in the sky’
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) tweeted to say it has received over 45 999 calls in relation to the fire around half a mile away from Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
One person tweeted: ‘What on earth is this? Was just on the North Circular.’
Another said: ‘Just passed the biggest fire I’ve ever seen in my life.
‘Looks like a warehouse or something of that size near the north circular at Wembley.’
Another Twitter user posted: ‘HUGE fire off north circular just now. Literally exploding, plumes of smoke. I think it is a warehouse although not confirmed.’
Others have described it as ‘horrific’, while the police have branded it ‘serious’.
One Twitter user posted to say they were being kept awake by the fire three miles away.
One Twitter user posted to say they were being kept awake by the fire three miles away
Achal Dhillon who lives in Hendon, less than half a mile from the scene, said the fire was burning ‘quite violently’ for more than 30 minutes.
The 33-year-old said he saw fireballs being propelled into the air from the burning building up to a height of 100 metres.
Witnessing the fire spread through the building Mr Dhillon, after spotting what was initially a small blaze or a ‘little dot’, said there was then a ‘loud pop’.
He said: ‘Then we saw a lot of flames suddenly rise up by themselves… then just this huge mountain of fire, almost pyramid shaped and spiralling as it was shooting fireballs into the air.
‘It is still going, there is a huge trail of thick black smoke.’
Mr Dhillon said he was ‘amazed’ at how quickly the fire service responded, adding that it was probably only a couple of minutes before they arrived and were tackling the flames.
An LFB spokesman told MailOnline: ‘This is a significant fire at a paint factory off the North Circular which can be seen across London.
‘We’d ask people to avoid the area if possible and local residents to keep their doors and windows shut.’
‘The Brigade was called at 9.20pm. Fire crews from Hendon and surrounding fire stations are attending the scene. The cause of the fire is not yet known at this stage.’
They said the warehouse is 50m by 20m and the fireball is ‘very visible and can be seen for miles around’.
They added : ‘The Brigade was called at 2120 and the fire was under control by 0022. Fire crews from Hendon and surrounding fire stations were at the scene.
‘The cause of the fire is under investigation.’
Concerned passers-by took to social media to warn others of the blaze, which was described as a ‘huge fireball in the sky’