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A blaze broke out at Google's British headquarters today, when a rooftop barbecue got out of control.
The blaze broke out on the roof patio of the company's London offices at lunchtime, the fire brigade said.
Around 5,000 Google staff and employees from other firms based in the six-floor building were evacuated.
Within minutes nearby workers had posted pictures of the blaze on the social networking website Twitter.
A spokesman from Google said: 'We have free food for staff at our offices and today was a barbecue day. We were having a barbecue on the patio where the fire started, but we're waiting to hear from the firefighters whether the two are linked.'
Firefighters were called just before 2pm to Victoria in south west London and spent two hours bringing it under control.
A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: 'We attended a six-storey building on Buckingham Palace Road. We had four fire engines in attendance with 20 fire fighters.
'A small patio area on the fifth floor was alight.'
He said there would be an investigation once the fire was put out.
The Google spokesman added: 'There was no serious damaged to the building and thankfully no one was hurt. We're all back in the offices now.'
The internet giant has developed a reputation for being one of the world's most employee-friendly businesses.
In its world HQ in California, staff have access to volleyball courts, swimming pools video games, ping pong, pinball machines and even a baby grand piano.
The only people found wearing suits and ties are visiting businessmen, 'Googlers' wear jeans, t-shirts, sweaters and on occasion some even show up in pyjama bottoms.
Other perks include free haircuts, dry cleaning and laundry, child care, car services and five onsite doctors available for employee check-ups; all free of charge.
From : dailymail
