Firefighters Extinguish Blaze at London’s Somerset House
The palatial complex’s historic artworks sustained no damage from the fire that broke out on August 17
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After London’s Somerset House caught fire on Saturday, about 125 firefighters worked together to control the blaze on the building’s roof and third floor. The team quickly extinguished the flames, and the historic Neoclassical complex on the banks of the River Thames was able to reopen on Sunday.
“Everybody is safe,” Jonathan Reekie, Somerset House’s director, told BBC News’ Noor Nanji as firefighters worked inside. “There are no valuable artifacts or artworks in that part of the building.”
Somerset House describes itself as “host to the U.K.’s largest creative community.” It’s also home to the Courtauld Gallery, which is known for its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, such as Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Bandaged Ear (1889) and other famous works.
Around noon on August 17, a fire broke out in the building’s West Wing, which is occupied by offices and “back-of-house facilities,” as the Independent’s Pol Allingham reports.
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“I was walking along the South Bank and could smell smoke, looked up and saw smoke coming out of the top of Somerset House,” recalls Michelle Birkby, a writer from London, per the Independent. “At first I assumed it was a barbecue in the courtyard or some sort of event, but then I heard the fire engines, realized the smoke was billowing out of control and that Somerset House was on fire.”
Paul Clark, who had traveled to London with his wife and four children from Washington state, was with his family at the London Eye when they noticed the firefighters.
“It was sad to see,” Clark tells BBC News, adding that he was “very relieved” to hear that the artworks inside were safe.
The first edition of Somerset House was built in 1547 as a palace for Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset. Elizabeth I lived there for five years before being crowned England’s queen in 1558, and the house was the setting for the Treaty of London’s signing in 1604, ending the Anglo-Spanish War. In the late 1700s, the palace was demolished and replaced, becoming home to the Royal Academy of Arts.
In recent years, it has hosted events such as London Fashion Week and summer concert series. When the blaze broke out, 20 fire engines were sent to protect the historic building, according to a statement from the London Fire Brigade.
“The age and design of the building proved a challenge for crews as they initially responded,” says Keeley Foster, the brigade’s assistant commissioner, in the statement. “As a result, four of the Brigade’s aerial ladders, including a 64-meter [210-foot] turntable ladder, were deployed to support firefighters as they carried out a complex and technical response.”
While the Courtauld Gallery—located in the North Wing—has reopened to the public, the other wings remain shuttered. But as a Somerset House spokesperson tells Artnet’s Jo Lawson-Tancred, only the West Wing suffered damage. Officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze.
“I am sorry to hear about the fire at Somerset House,” says arts minister Chris Bryant, per the Guardian’s Cash Boyle. “This historic building is home to some of London’s great galleries and creative spaces. I am very pleased that there are no casualties and hope that Somerset House can reopen to visitors as soon as possible.”
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