GOD SAVE THE HOUSE

London Firefighters Battle Fire at Iconic Building

The London Fire Brigade announced at around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday that it was battling a blaze coming from inside the historic Somerset House.

The London Fire Brigade began fighting a blaze inside the Somerset House at around 7:00 a.m. EST, deploying some 125 firefighters to put it out. “Somerset House is currently closed due to a fire which has broken out in one small part of the building,” the Somerset House’s X account wrote in a post, Saturday. “All staff and public are safe and the site is closed. The London Fire Brigade arrived swiftly and we’re working very closely with them to control the spread of the fire.” On scene, some 125 firefighters are scaling the building’s 100-foot walls and working around the roof to tackle the blaze in tandem with 20 fire engines, according to the London Fire Brigade’s X account. The 18th century architectural marvel is home to paintings by Van Gogh, Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, although Jonathan Reekie, director of the museum, told the Independent that there are “no artworks” near the blaze. “The west wing is mainly offices and back-of-house facilities,” Reekie added. Officials are still unclear of the cause of the fire.