The fire started in a materials store at the south end of the northbound Victoria line platform, which was being used by contractors working on the modernisation of the station.
No one was killed as a result of the fire; 14 people (four passengers, one police officer and nine members of London Underground staff) were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, of whom all but one were released next day.
Whilst smoking had been banned on London Underground trains since July 1984, at the time of the Oxford Circus fire it was still allowed in stations.
[2] Nonetheless, a similar incident occurred on 18 November 1987 at King's Cross St Pancras tube station when it was concluded as probable that a passenger had dropped a lit match onto an escalator.
After the King's Cross fire, staff training was increased and the smoking ban was enforced much more strictly with fines being introduced for offenders.