Self-heating textiles cause of Barking launderette fire

Firefighters were called to the incident early on Saturday morning (credit: London Fire Brigade)

Fire investigators believe ‘self-heating textiles’ to be the cause of a fire at a launderette in Barking over the weekend.

Firefighters were called to the incident in River Road early on Saturday morning at 3.34am.

Part of a single-storey warehouse being used as a launderette was damaged by the fire.

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters from Barking, East Ham, Plaistow, Dagenham and surrounding fire stations, attended to the blaze.

The fire was under control by 6.03am.

It is believed the blaze was accidental.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “These types of fires often involve textiles that have been contaminated with oil, most commonly linseed, massage and cooking oil on tea towels, tablecloths and chef whites.

“Sometimes when materials are cleaned, put in tumble dryers and then folded and stacked, the heat from the tumble drying cannot escape.

“This can result in a high enough temperature allowing it to build up to a point where it smoulders and eventually ignites.

“If you are washing and then drying on a hot cycle, always use the cooling cycle on the tumble dryer so it cools down and allow the heat to dissipate properly, before stacking laundered items together.”

There were no reports of any injuries.