'Like fireballs from the sky': Mysterious red flares ignite houseboat fires and burn holes in London homes

Mystery surrounds a shower of red flares which fell on houses, cars and boats by the River Thames in east London, sparking fires and damaging homes as they plunged from the sky.

Footage shows the skyline illuminated by red flashes and sparks as the flares slowly descended over the Thames at around 10.30pm on Sunday.

The flares sparked three fires on moored houseboats, according to Hermitage Moorings, and local residents reported two holes in the roof of an apartment building.

Apoorv Srivastava was at home with his 11-month-old daughter when his living room lit up in red as around 60 flares blazed through the sky.

He said the flares burned two holes into the roof of his apartment block, Capital Wharf. A palm tree in a nearby garden also caught alight in the chaos.

“It was like fireballs from the sky. They kept coming and coming, like parachutes, slowly coming down,” he said.

“Some flares fell into the garden where we tried to put them out, but they wouldn’t go out with water. They just kept burning and burning.”

He added: “Everyone was scared because nobody knew what was going on.”

Magnesium flares, which work by igniting reactive compounds, are often attached to parachutes to help them descend slowly. They burn at high temperatures exceeding 1,000C and are frequently used in combat zones.

Hermitage Moorings told the Metro that all the houseboat fires were extinguished by local residents before the London Fire Brigade arrived.

A spokesperson said: “Our local hero was neighbour boat dweller Thomas Zatorski who immediately extinguished all the fires

“We were all very lucky that none of them landed on petrol tanks that accompany the outboard engines on the smaller boats”

The John Orwell football pitch was also damaged by one of the magnesium flares, while the high street and surrounding areas have been marred by white residue and red caps from where the flares landed.

The source of the red magnesium flares remains a mystery.

Local residents claimed that the flares were launched from Bermondsey, on the other side of the river, reporting chants of “Ole, Ole” as the red flashes littered the sky.

Some have speculated that the flares were set off by football supporters celebrating MC Alger’s victory in the Algerian league, after similar flare displays were witnessed in Algiers on the same day.

The Met Police did receive a number of calls regarding the flares, but did not attend the incident on Sunday night.

The London Fire Brigade did attend, but fires had been extinguished ahead of their arrival.

Neither force holds any information on who set off the flares or why.

In 2024, Londoners were left puzzled when a similar flare display saw red and yellow fireworks fizz across the sky near Albert Bridge.

At the time, it was speculated that the flares were set off by Spanish football fans following a win in the Euros.