'Large, unconscious dog' carried out of blazing vet's surgery as fire tears through building in south-east London

Smoke: The aftermath of the blaze at Anderson's vet surgery in Bromley
Jeremy Gauntlett
Ramzy Alwakeel25 September 2015

Witnesses today told how a large, unconscious dog and two paint-spattered workmen in oxygen masks were brought out of a blazing vet’s surgery in south London.

The animal, thought to be midway through an operation, was among about a dozen brought carefully out of Anderson’s in Cambridge Road, Bromley, as fire swept through the building at about 1.15pm. The pets were assembled on the green opposite before being loaded into cars and driven to safety.

Neighbours at first thought the smoke was fog, but realised what was happening when flames erupted from the roof of the adjacent building.

Jeremy Gauntlett, a partner at the Proctors estate agent opposite the surgery, told the Standard: “There was smoke really, really pouring out from the roof – from under the tiles and from the building on the other side. Half of the roof of the building is gone.

“I phoned the fire brigade and the next thing we saw was all the veterinary staff coming out with carry cases of pets.

“They carried out an unconscious, very large black dog which they put into one of the large vans. Two vets bodily carried him out.

Jets: The fire brigade get to work on the fire Jeremy Gauntlett
Jeremy Gauntlett

“Most people were bringing out dogs on leads and pet boxes – six or seven of those came out with the veterinary nurses.

“They took them all onto the green and had them all piled up.

“The police didn’t turn up for nearly an hour so the roads were absolute chaos because there was no one to direct the traffic.

“I noticed they were doing the building next door has been doing some renovations. The ambulance men came out with two paint-covered workmen with oxygen masks on.

“Whether they were in the thick of it when it started I don’t know.”

'Half the roof is gone': Smoke fills the air above Anderson's vet surgery in Bromley Jeremy Gauntlett
Jeremy Gauntlett

London Fire Brigade said six fire crews were called to the blaze.

“Two people were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation by the London Ambulance Service.

“Five members of staff and all of the animals have been safely evacuated from the building.

“The fire is affecting the roof of the veterinary surgery and part of the first floor is alight. Most of the roof of an adjacent house is also alight.”

Station manager Lee Sparks added: “The roof is well alight and crews are using an aerial ladder platform to try and bring the fire under control.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in