Factory fire in Erith: road closures and bus diversions

Firefighters were called to a commercial premises in Church Manorway at 9.50am yesterday (Monday 16 September).

More than 100 employees fled the property before firefighters arrived at the scene; a cordon remains in place.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Erith station remains open for trains, but the car park is currently closed and buses are unable to stop there.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “Firefighters are responding to a fire at an industrial site in Church Manorway, Erith.

“The fire involves a conveyor belt with a spiral conveyor.

“The fire site is difficult to access, which limits the ability of emergency services to completely extinguish the flames.

“This is therefore a lengthy incident and fire-fighting operations may continue until tomorrow (September 18).

“A 500m security cordon has been put in place while emergency services respond. A section of the A2016 is closed to traffic and several nearby businesses on the industrial site have been forced to close.

“The brigade was first called to the fire at 09:50 on September 16. Crews from Erith, Plumstead, Greenwich and surrounding fire stations are responding to the incident.

“The cause of this fire is not yet known.”

Due to the fire, several roads are currently closed.

Currently existing road closures:

• Mulberry Way is closed in both directions at Church Manorway
• B213 Lower Road is closed in both directions from Battle Road to A2016 Bronze Age Way
• The Bronze Age Way is closed in both directions from the B253 Picardy Manorway to the A206 Queens Road (Erith Roundabout).

Buses on diversion

• Route 469 will be diverted towards Erith. Buses will not serve any stops between Eardley Road (W) and Erith Station/West Street (L).
• Route 180 starts and ends at Abbey Wood Station (C) and Harrow Manorway/Yarnton Way (B). The remaining stops to/from Erith are not served by buses.
• Route 229 will be diverted towards Queen Mary’s Hospital / Chislehurst Road. Buses will not serve any stops from Lower Road/Belvedere Station (C) to Erith Town Centre/Cross Street (G).

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called to a fire incident at the junction of Clydesdale Way and Eastern Way, DA18, at 10:54am this morning (Monday 16 September).

“We have dispatched resources to the scene, including members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) and a crisis response officer.

“Our teams were on site supporting our emergency service partners on site. Some of our teams were later withdrawn, others remain on site.”