The first of several 999 calls were made to the London Fire Brigade at 03:32 and received by the local fire station, A21, Paddington, who were ordered to the scene along with neighbouring A22, Manchester Square and G26 Belsize, bringing the first attendance of four pumping appliances (two were pumps – P, two were pump escapes – PE, carrying the heavy but stable 50 foot (15m) wheeled escape ladders), a 100 ft (30m) turntable ladder – TL (aerial ladder) and an emergency tender – ET (for the breathing apparatus (BA) sets carried; BA wearing was then still a specialist skill).
On arrival, a chaotic scene greeted the senior officer, a serious fire in progress and numerous persons needing rescue.
Two trapped residents escaped by jumping from high windows: one into the slender topmost branches of a tree, one across a gap onto a fireman's ladder.
The final attendance involved 30 pumping appliances, 3 turntable ladders, 3 emergency tenders and other specialist vehicles such as hose layers for relaying water long distances, including from the nearby Regents Canal at Little Venice.
The "stop" message (= "incident under control") was despatched at 08:02 that morning, but damping down and standby attendance went on for some days.
Hamish Pettit from Rochester, Kent, who attended the fire with Red Watch A21 Paddington, was declared dead at the scene.
This was a one-hour closed circuit constant flow unit consisting of a breathing bag (containing a CO2 absorbent material) which hung in front of the wearer, oxygen cylinder (sat horizontally across the small of the back), mouthpiece, nose clip, and separate eyes-only goggles.
At the time in the London Fire Brigade and other UK authorities, the wearing of BA was restricted to a number of trained and generally more senior fire-fighters.
A number of open circuit compressed air breathing apparatus sets were also used, the Siebe Gorman Airmaster carried on some pumping appliances.
The set comprises a large cylinder charged with compressed air, linked to a demand valve combined into the face mask, secured with straps around the head.
This type of BA set was simpler to use and service and rather than re-cycling the breathed air, discharged it directly to atmosphere, with a typical duration of 45 minutes.
A blue plaque is attached to the wall of No 9, commemorating the connection with pioneer electrical engineer Ambrose Fleming.