People were told to avoid the area as plumes of heavy black smoke filled the sky near Warwick Avenue station.
A fire has erupted at a substation, following a similar event that disrupted flights at Heathrow Airport.
A crew of 100 firefighters is tackling a fire in Paddington, where there is “considerable” smoke, according to the London Fire Brigade.
Crews were dispatched to the incident at Aberdeen Place, NW8, at 5.29 a.m. on Tuesday.
The fire has spread to the top of an adjacent residential building, and 80 people have been evacuated. There have been no reported injuries.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Videos on social media show massive amounts of dark smoke pouring into the sky following what appears to have been an explosion.
Residents and emergency personnel were required to wear face masks to protect themselves from the fumes.
One tenant, who did not want to be identified, said he noticed the fire from his bedroom window after being notified by his wife around 7.30 a.m.
“You could actually see these massive flames through the thick black smoke,” he told me. “It wasn’t a normal building fire.”
He stated that his car was in the cordoned-off portion of the road and that he had been given no indication of when he would be able to retrieve it.
Paul Morgan, the station commander on the scene, stated, “This is a very visible fire and there is a lot of smoke.” Residents are recommended to close their windows and doors and avoid the area if possible.”
Firefighters from Paddington and Euston fire stations are also in attendance.
An LFB spokeswoman said: “Fifteen fire engines and about 100 firefighters were dispatched to a fire at an electrical substation on Aberdeen Place near Paddington NW8.
“A fire has started in an electrical transformer. A portion of the roof of a nearby residential structure has also caught fire. Approximately 80 people have been evacuated from a block of flats.
“One of the Brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders is being utilised to combat the flames from above.
“The Brigade’s 999 Control officers have received around 160 calls alerting them to the blaze.”
It comes just a month after Britain’s busiest airport was forced to close due to a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation.
Thousands of aircraft throughout the world were diverted, stranding tens of thousands of passengers in a transportation nightmare.
More than 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow were cancelled, with back-up power “not designed to run a full operation”.
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