Around 125 firefighters were called to a fire affecting homes, gardens, sheds and a railway embankment in Walthamstow, east London.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said two rest centres had been set up locally for impacted residents.
It said it received the first of more than 100 calls to the incident near Vallentin Road and Shernhall Street just before 18:30 BST, and there were no reports of injuries.
The blaze was brought under control by 22:35 and LFB said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Assistant commissioner Tom Goodall said one house was on fire, a second home suffered damage to a rear extension and the gardens of 30 properties were affected.
Earlier the fire brigade advised people in the area to keep their windows and doors closed due to the significant amount of smoke produced by the fire.
Motorists were advised to avoid the area, including Wood Street, Shernhall Street, and surrounding roads, as road closures were in place.
The Weaver Overground line was also partially closed in response to a railway embankment being alight. Disruption was expected to continue into the morning.
Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy said in an Instagram post on Sunday evening that “hundreds” of people had been affected by the fire.
She thanked locals for donations of food and water brought to the rest centres, adding that “it would make you cry to see what our community’s done”.
