The fire started on an escalator (containing wood and years of built-up grease) between the Piccadilly line platforms and the ticket hall at King's Cross St Pancras tube station.
The relatively inconspicuous flames associated with the Coandă effect, hugging the space on and under the inclined trench of the escalator steps, led many travellers to believe they were not in immediate danger.
An episode of the television series Forensic Files entitled "Flashover" detailed the King's Cross fire, along with the computer modelling and other analyses which discovered the trench effect.
An episode of the television series Seconds from Disaster entitled "London's Subway Inferno" detailed both the King's Cross Fire based on eyewitness accounts and the investigation leading up to the discovery of the trench effect.
The trench effect has also been cited as the cause of rapid spread of wildfires up hills, which has led on several notorious occasions to the deaths of multiple firefighters.