Candle House fire: Leeds high rise building blaze started by 'vat of oil' igniting, West Yorkshire crews confirm

Fire, police and ambulance crews responded after the blaze broke out on the 11th floor of Candle House at Wharf Approach in the city centre shortly after 5.30pm yesterday (Tuesday).

A cordon was put in place around the building and nearby roads were closed off, causing “traffic jams everywhere”, as fire crews dealt with the blaze.

Residents of the building and the businesses operating from the bottom floor were evacuated while crews tackled the blaze using large jets and breathing apparatus. They were let in again after around two hours and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that there were no injuries.

A security guard at the site told the YEP that fire crews had confirmed that the blaze was caused by “a vat of oil that has ignited and spread".

Richard Rayner, architectural technologist at Corstorphine & Wright, which is situated in Candle House, said staff were getting ready to leave for home at 5.30pm when they were evacuated.

He said: "A load of people were on the grass outside looking up and it had just started. There was a bit of smoke and it got worse and worse.

“I'm the fire marshal and had to stay and wait so we went to the pub for a pint. We didn’t get back in until around 8pm when we closed up.”

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Residents in the building said that a fire alarm went off and that smoke entered some of the flats.

One man who lives on the same floor that the fire was on said: “I opened the door and there was smoke in the hallway. I left with my dog and waited for a couple of hours.”

Another said it was “quite calm” among those who had been evacuated.