Two people were taken to hospital as forty firefighters fight flames in derelict office block

THREE people were rescued from a derelict building as forty firefighters fought flames for more than fours.

Two people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation by ambulance crews before being taken to hospital.

The London Fire Brigade was called at 2.43pm, on Wednesday, to the six-floor office block, at the Willesden Junction end of Old Oak Common Lane, Harlesden.

Station Manager Sam Kazmanli, who is at the scene, said: “Firefighters are working hard to bring this fire under control. Smoke logging, pad-locked doors and the lay-out of this 70s style office block are providing challenging conditions for firefighters but crews are making steady progress and continuing to search the building to make sure that no-one else is inside.”

Police cordoned off both ends of the road forcing traffic to find an alternative route.

The fire was said to have started in a lift shaft between the fourth and fifth floors but flames could be seen billowing from a top floor window into the night.

Earlier, firemen rescued one person from the sixth floor and two from the fifth before two were taken to Central Middlesex Hospital.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said it sent out three ambulance crews, two response cars, a hazardous area response team and two officers after being called out shortly after 3pm.

By 6pm at least one of the eight fire engines from Willesden, Wembley and several other fire stations had left the scene.