London’s firefighting service responded Wednesday to a blaze in the Golders Green neighborhood, home to a large Jewish community that’s been targeted by a number of arson attacks in recent months.
Images from the scene showed the flames impacting a Jewish supermarket, Kosher Kingdom, and a column of black smoke rising above the area’s main shopping street.
“The cause of the fire is unknown at this time,” the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said in a statement, noting that it had mobilized 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters after receiving dozens of calls about it.
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“The fire is affecting a ground floor shop and a storage area to the rear of the shop,” the LFB added.
“The fire is producing a significant amount of smoke,” it said, urging people to avoid the area “whilst firefighters work to extinguish the fire.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said it was “too early to have determined the cause” of the fire but that, “Fortunately, there have been no reports of any injuries.”
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It follows a spate of arson attacks on synagogues and community sites over recent months in and around Golders Green, in northwest London.
The area saw a stabbing attack in late April that targeted two Jewish men that prompted the U.K. to raise its national threat level from “substantial” to “severe.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the attack as “abhorrent” and a “vile act of terrorism.”
A little-known Iran-linked group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), has claimed responsibility for almost all the incidents, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
In response, London police created a new “community protection team” to protect the Jewish community in the capital, initially comprised of 100 extra officers.
It combines neighborhood policing with “specialist protection and counter-terrorism capabilities,” the force said last month.
Police said said officers were at the scene of Wednesday’s fire “assisting firefighters with road closures and evacuations.”
