Investigators have been examining the scene of a huge fire that destroyed a kosher food warehouse in Golders Green last Thursday.

Firefighters rescued a 24-year-old woman from the blaze, who was taken by ambulance to Hampstead’s Royal Free Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. She was later discharged.

The fire, which started at about 4pm, gutted the entire building at the back of Kosher Kingdom, in Russell Parade, destroying large amounts of stock.

Residents in surrounding roads were evacuated as smoke engulfed the area and fire crews feared that cylinders of propane gas could overheat and explode.

At least ten engines and 50 firefighters attended the scene, working until Friday afternoon to stop the blaze spreading.

Eyewitness Josh Colman, 21, said the fire started in a corner of the building that borders his garden.

“When I was driving back over Staples Corner I could already see the smoke and knew it was somewhere near our house,” he said.

“We got home and because of the smoke, couldn’t see anything out of the window except the yellow helmets of the firefighters moving around in our garden.

“When we were allowed back in around 8pm, the flames were still above the roof, which had completely collapsed, and firefighters stayed all night to control it.”

Efim Rabinovitch, 57, of Alba Gardens, tried to tackle the blaze using a garden hose before fire crews arrived.

“I was in my house when the fire started and I was afraid it would spread, so I immediately tried to do something,” he said.

“I started pouring water on the wall of the building and the fence to stop the ivy catching alight.

“After about 40 minutes the fire crew came down and moved me out. I didn’t get back into my house until after 11.30pm.”

Director of Kosher King-dom, Chuny Rokach, said it was too early to know the cost of the damage.

Along with ruined stock from the warehouse, he said the food in his shop was unsaleable because of smoke pollution.

Mr Rokach said: “We don’t know how long it will take to record the losses, but we hope it will not be long before we are back serving the community.

“We are happy everybody is safe and we thank the customers for their support.”