London Fire Brigade was called to the incident near Carshalton Road in Mitcham at 4.27pm on 27 August after receiving more than 70 calls.
At the height of the blaze, the fire affected a workshop, a scaffolding yard and part of a house, while around eight hectares of surrounding shrubland and grass were also alight.
A 32m turntable ladder was deployed to fight the fire from above, while the Brigade’s drone team provided aerial imagery to support operational decisions. Specialist wildfire equipment was also used as the fire spread across open ground.
The incident was brought under control at 8.28pm, although crews remained at the scene overnight to extinguish hotspots and damp down the affected area.
No injuries had been reported in the Brigade’s latest confirmed update.
Investigation under way
The fire caused significant disruption around Mitcham, with road closures introduced and rail services between Mitcham Junction and Sutton affected because of the proximity of the blaze to the railway.
The cause was initially recorded by London Fire Brigade as unknown. Subsequent local reporting on 28 August said the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade had begun a joint investigation and that the incident was being treated as suspicious.
Scaffmag has not independently confirmed which scaffolding business occupied the affected yard and is therefore not naming a company at this stage.
Publicly available business records show scaffolding operations associated with Corporation Cottages on Carshalton Road, close to the reported incident area, but there is not yet sufficient official evidence to establish which business or premises sustained the scaffold-yard damage.
The extent of damage to scaffolding equipment, vehicles, boards or other yard assets has also not yet been confirmed.
London Fire Brigade said the fire produced a significant amount of smoke and advised residents during the incident to keep windows and doors closed and avoid the area.
