Firefighters tackle the blaze in Seven Sisters Road [Photos: Tony Hardiman]

A RAGING fire in a flat above a kebab shop drew a large crowd in Finsbury Park last Thursday as 10 fire engines and 70 fire fighters tackled the blaze well into the evening.

The fire started just before 4pm on November 5, in the residence above Shish Shack, a kebab and pizza takeaway in Seven Sisters Road, near the corner of Durham Road.

The London Fire Brigade has confirmed that eight people were rescued and one man jumped from a flat window.

He was treated for minor injuries at the scene and taken to hospital. Crews from Holloway, Stoke Newington, Hornsey and surrounding fire stations were dispatched.

According to the LFB, the blaze was caused by “combustible items being kept too close to a heat source” and was under control by 8.25pm – more than four hours after it began.

The roof and the flat on the second floor were completely destroyed, with part of the ground floor kebab spot and first floor flat also damaged.

Tony Hardiman was heading home to Tottenham through the area when he saw smoke.

“At about 6.30pm, 6.45pm, I was walking back up toward the train station at Finsbury Park and there was a mighty rush and I looked back and saw flames leaping to the top of the roof.

“The top floor was just a glow of flames.”

Sprinklers inside Shish Shack, which were still on at midday the next day, caused water to leak through to the adjoining Finsbury Food Market and flood the basement, according to a staff member there.

The damaged frontage of Shish Shack Pizza & Kebab the day after the fire

Finsbury Park resident Charlotte Victoria, who also witnessed the blaze, said: “It was really awful, I’ve never seen a fire like that in real life so I was quite shaken after.

“The LFB did an amazing job though, working relentlessly to control it, and also with crowd control too as it’s such a busy street.”

The fire is the latest of three seen in and around Seven Sisters Road in recent months. In September, a man was rescued via ladder from a fire in a flat almost directly opposite Shish Shack, and in mid-October, the nearby Tollington Arms on the corner of Hornsey Road and Tollington Road suffered a fire in its basement, destroying Arsenal memorabilia and forcing the beloved matchday boozer to close.

In the same week, the Sam Morris Nursery in Parkside Crescent in Isledon Road was decimated by a fire during the night, its cause still unknown.

Less than half a mile away, the burnt-out remains of another takeaway, Dubai Shawarma, which was destroyed by a fire in November 2024, still stand derelict.

Ahmat, who works at the neighbouring Supreme Food & Wine Fruit & Veg, said several of his customers told him they were shocked to see yet another fire in the area in such a short space of time.

The burned out remains of the Dubai Shawarma are still left derelict in Seven Sisters Road after an unconnected fire in 2024

“It definitely struck me that this is another fire in just a month or so, although the idea that there could be a serial arsonist seems a bit far-fetched.”

There is no indication of any connection between the fires.

Gerry Coughlan, who lives in the adjacent Yonge Park and is a regular at Shish Shack and saw the fire from his upstairs window said he had “never seen anything like it before”.

“I seen the commotion coming up the road and the fire brigade passing down here and decided to come up and have a look. It was the kebab shop I use all the time. I saw flames coming up through the roof.

“There were a lot of things going on with people with their phones out. I couldn’t say exactly, but there were maybe 80 or 90 people there,” he added

“I couldn’t get down to the off licence to get my bits and pieces, I had to go down Seven Sisters Road to get my shopping. All I’ll miss now is my pizzas and burgers.”

Station Commander Adam Lawson was at the scene.

He said: “Local residents were advised to keep their windows and doors closed. There was very heavy traffic and motorists and pedestrians should avoid the area. The Seven Sisters Road is closed between Holloway Road and Finsbury Park station.”