A homeless man needed treatment for smoke inhalation at the scene of a fire on Barclay Road, near the Law Courts in central Croydon on Thursday morning.

There were no other casualties reported from the fire, which seems to have been caused by bedding being too close to a heater. “The fire is believed to have been caused by combustible material placed too close to a heat source,” the London Fire Brigade said.

Five fire engines and around 35 firefighters were called to the fire, which was on the ground floor of the six-storey, long-derelict office building.

Firefighters closed the eastbound carriageway of the A232 from Park Lane to Altyre Road while dealing with the blaze.

“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued one man from a fire at a derelict building, he suffered from smoke inhalation and was treated at the scene by London Ambulance Service crews,” the LFB said.

Crews from Croydon, Woodside and Norbury attended, and after receiving a first call just after 9am, the fire was under control by 1120, with Barclay Road re-opening soon after.

This is the third incident in Croydon in two weeks where the Brigade has had to be called out to fires in disused buildings.

Earlier this month, two men died after a fire in a derelict house on Duppas Hill Terrace.

In the same week, there were no reports of serious casualties when fire broke out in a disused sports building on Imperial Way, near the A23 Purley Way, which took fire crews six hours to get under control.

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