Fire at Jewish supermarket Kosher Kingdom in the Golders Green area not ruled ‘suspicious’

Local residents look at fire trucks at the site of a fire which broke out at a supermarket in the Golders Green neighbourhood in north London on May 27, 2026. Photo by TOBY SHEPHEARD /AFP via Getty Images

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A fire Wednesday at a kosher supermarket in a north London neighbourhood targeted in recent months by arson attacks was “not believed to be suspicious”, the UK capital’s firefighting service said.

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The fire at Kosher Kingdom in Golders Green did not injure anyone, officials said, but likely rattled the large Jewish community in the area after a string of arson and other attacks this year.

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The London Fire Brigade (LFB) dispatched 15 fire engines, around 100 firefighters and drones to the morning inferno, with dark smoke billowing above the usually busy main shopping street and visible from miles away.

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“The circumstances of the fire are not believed to be suspicious at this time,” LFB Assistant Commissioner Craig Carter said in an update from the scene.

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He added specialist investigators had worked “at pace” alongside the Metropolitan Police to reach the preliminary determination, but said the probe into its cause was ongoing.

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The Met said the fire was “believed to have been caused by an electrical fault”.

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“We would like to reassure residents that there is no indication of any targeted or deliberate act,” it said in a statement, adding officers would remain in the area “to provide reassurance”.

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Jay Shah, 70, who works at Kosher Kingdom, said he received a morning phone call that there was a fire impacting the store.

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“I think it’s from the warehouse at the back,” he told AFP from the scene, saying it contained freezers, fridges and machinery.

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The fire follows arson attacks on synagogues and community sites over recent months in and around Golders Green, which is home to a large Jewish population.

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The area also saw a stabbing attack in April that targeted two Jewish men.

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A screen grab taken from body camera video shows police trying to disarm a man holding a knife as they detain him in the Golders Green neighbourhood of London, England, after he allegedly stabbed two people nearby. Photo by Handout/Metropolitan Police/AFP via Getty Images

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A little-known Iran-linked group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), has claimed responsibility for almost all the incidents, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

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In response, London police has created a new “community protection team” to safeguard the Jewish community in the capital, initially comprising 100 extra officers.

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It combines neighbourhood policing with “specialist protection and counter-terrorism capabilities”, the force said last month.

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Retiree Nicky, 58, was among people watching the firefighters at work from a nearby cordon.

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“It’s shocking,” she told AFP of the fire. “It’s a big kosher supermarket serving the community. It’s really terrible.”

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