Nine arrested and 75 rescued as flare starts fire at Arsenal title parade

Nine people were arrested and approximately 75 had to be rescued from a hotel after a flare started a fire during Arsenal’s title parade through north London on Sunday, as the club celebrated winning the Premier League and the Women’s Champions Cup.

Thousands of fans lined the streets around the Emirates Stadium in Islington as Mikel Arteta and his players showed off the Premier League trophy from open-top buses, marking the club’s first top-flight title in 22 years. The squad had returned from Budapest, where they lost the Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain, before taking to the streets for the domestic celebration.

The Metropolitan Police, which deployed around 500 officers — describing it as one of their biggest events of the year — confirmed the nine arrests covered charges including drunk and disorderly behaviour, drugs offences, sexual assault, and assaulting emergency workers.

The London Fire Brigade also responded to an incident after a flare ignited a fire on the exterior of a hotel in the area. Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne, the strategic event commander for the LFB, said the blaze caused “only a small amount of damage to the exterior of the building” and that pyrotechnics were also believed to have triggered fire alarms at several other nearby locations.

“As supporters head home, we would urge them to avoid using pyrotechnics, particularly at stations, and to keep them away from buildings and other flammable materials,” Goulbourne said. He added that the event was a “fantastic sight” and that the majority of fans were “celebrating their club’s achievement safely”.

The parade, which featured DJs and live entertainment, filled the air with red flare smoke and vuvuzelas as crowds brought Islington to a standstill. Congestion at surrounding tube stations gradually eased late in the afternoon, allowing fans to disperse before a major clean-up operation got under way.