Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters have been tackling a fire at a mixed use building on Tottenham Street in Euston.
Most of the ground floor was damaged by the fire. One man was rescued from the building by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus using a fire escape hood and was taken to hospital.
Fire escape hoods provide members of the public with up to 15 minutes protection from four of the main fire gases (carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride and acrolein) and can be worn by conscious or unconscious people. If more than 15 minutes protection is required then another hood can be given to each wearer. They do not provide oxygen but temporarily filter toxic smoke to make breathing easier.
One of the Brigade's 32-metre turntable ladders was used as an observation tower to provide the Incident Commander with an aerial view of the fire.
Control Officers took the first of 14 calls at 0743 and mobilised crews from Soho, Euston, Islington and surrounding fire stations to the scene. The incident was over for firefighters at 0936.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.