About 75 people have been rescued from heights and 16 more arrested after wild celebrations for the Arsenal football team brought hundreds of thousands to the streets of north London for the team’s victory parade.

The area around Emirates Stadium turned red and white on Sunday afternoon (local time), as up to 1.5 million fans celebrated Arsenal FC’s first English Premier League trophy in 22 years.

The men’s team was joined by the women’s side, after they won the first FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in February.

Sunday’s parade came just a day after the Gunners men lost a nail-biting Champions League final against Paris St-Germain in a penalty shootout in Budapest.

The air was thick with red smoke, fans climbed trees and traffic lights and onto rooftops to try to their heroes as the team bus went by in an eight-kilometre loop through Islington.

“You could say I’ve been a fan since I was born,” a fan called Theresa – who was born streets away from Arsenal’s home ground – told the BBC.

“It has been a long time since Arsenal has had anything to scream and roar about.”

The London Fire Brigade said it rescued had “approximately 75 people” from incidents at height on Sunday. It urged fans to refrain not to climb onto roofs as the celebrations continued into the night.

The brigade said it was also called to a hotel fire believed to have been caused by a stray flare.

“Fortunately, the fire caused only a small amount of damage to the exterior of the building,” Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said.

“Pyrotechnics are also believed to have triggered the fire alarms at several other locations in the area.

Goulbourne said the celebrations had been a “fantastic sight” and said so many of the fans were “celebrating their club’s achievement safely”.

“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,” he said.

The Metropolitan Police said it was one of its biggest days of the year, with 500 officers sent to the area along with specialist police and drone teams. There were 16 arrests on charges such as drunk and disorderly behaviour, drugs offences, sexual assault and assaulting emergency workers.

Police were called to a stabbing just after 8.30pm and responded with paramedics and the air ambulance.

As the day turned into night, the streets of north London remained packed with celebrating Arsenal fans.

The roads were littered with cans, bottles, collapsed e-bikes and general debris. But the crowds continued to chant and sing joyously as they made their way back towards Tube stations.

-with AAP