40 fire engines and around 225 firefighters tackled a fire at a block of flats on Freshwater Road in Dagenham.
The whole of the building was affected by the fire, including scaffolding surrounding the property and the roof.
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: “We were called to the incident at 0244 this morning.
“The first crew arrived within five minutes and the second crew arrived within six minutes. An aerial appliance also arrived in under six minutes. To allow us to focus our resources on the incident, we declared a major incident, which has now been stood down. I am immensely grateful to the crews and officers who have operated in the most dangerous conditions to both rescue people and bring the incident under control despite being faced with a significant building failure.
"The building has a number of fire safety issues known to London Fire Brigade. A full simultaneous evacuation of the building was immediately carried out and a significant search and rescue operation took place.
“I am pleased to confirm that everyone has been accounted for. More than 80 people were evacuated with firefighters leading residents out to safety and carrying out 20 rescues. This included using fire escape hoods, which can provide 15 minutes of clean, filtered air in smoke-filled environments, helping individuals stay safe until they can be rescued or reach safety. Four people were treated on scene by London Ambulance Service crews, with two taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
“The Brigade’s Control Officers took 16 calls to the fire, including successfully giving vital fire survival guidance to a number of people using our Fire Survival Guidance App, which allows information to be exchanged between Control and the incident ground in a timely, accurate and consistent manner. They are also to be commended for their calm professionalism as the building began to fail.
“We also used new equipment such as drones and our 64-metre and 32-metre turntable ladders to provide incident commanders with a vantage point for assessing the scene. They were also used as water towers to deliver water on to the fire from above.
“The Brigade stood up full strategic arrangements to deal with the incident and a rest centre has been set up at Becontree Heath Leisure Centre. London Fire Brigade officers and members of our dedicated community support team are stationed at the rest centre to support residents alongside partners. Crews will also remain on scene into tomorrow carrying out further operations.
“We have commenced a full and detailed investigation into the cause of this fire, and we are working closely with police colleagues. However, due to the extensive damage to the building with parts of it now being declared unsafe, access may be limited. This will be a protracted investigation and our fire investigation and fire safety officers are likely to be on scene for several days. We know there will undoubtedly be concerns around potential fire safety issues, and this investigation will be a priority for our officers over the coming weeks.
“Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected and we will remain present in the local community throughout the coming days to provide support where needed.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank our crews, Control Officers, fire safety officers and support staff who worked incredibly hard to resolve the incident and to ensure everyone was safe. I would also like to thank our partners for their support.”
The Brigade was called at 0244 and the fire was under control by 1113. Fire crews from Dagenham, Ilford, Romford, Barking and surrounding fire stations attended the scene. The major incident was stood down at 1103.
F411 Dagenham PL
F422 Ilford P
F421 Ilford PL
F381 Romford PL
F432 Barking P
F431 Barking PL
F371 Haimault PL
F391 Hornchurch PL
F571 Harold Hill PL
F441 East Ham PL
F211 Stratford PL
F451 Plastiow PL
F301 Leytonstone PL
F401 Wennington PL
F351 Woodford PL
F221 Poplar PL
F231 Millwall PL
F261 Behtnal Green Pl
F282 Homerton P
F281 Homerton PL
F331 Whitechapel PL
H242 Brixton P
F251 Shadwell PL
E402 Sidcup P
E392 Bromely P
F362 Walthamstow P
E351 Old Kent Road PL
E211 Lewisham PL
A332 Tottenham P
A281 Dowagte Pl
E221 Greenwich Pl
F322 Stoke Newington P
F321 Stoke Newington PL
E341 Dockhead PL
A341 Edmonton PL
E361 Deptford PL
A301 Islington PL
E291 Lee Green PL
E381 New Cross PL
A352 Enfield P
F414 Dagenham TL
E223 Greenwich TL
A243 Soho TL
F446 East Ham FRU
A346 Edmonton FRU
A306 Islington FRU
F266 Bethnal Green FRU
E216 Lewisham FRU
G346 Chelsea FRU
A216 Paddington FRU
E286 Bexley FRU
H346 Wimbledon
CU3 Plastiow CU
CU5 Forest Hill CU
CU7 Park Royal CU
E29A Lee Green OSU
A39A Finchley OSU
OK16 Dowgate FIV
OK15 Dowgate FIV