Four people escaped a house fire on Elmer Road in Catford on Friday night after being alerted to the blaze by their smoke alarms.
The fire damaged part of the ground floor of the terraced property. The four occupants – a man and three women - escaped before the Brigade arrived after being alerted to the fire by smoke alarms which had been fitted to each floor of the building. All four were taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service. The three woman were suffering from smoke inhalation and the man had a cut to his arm.
The man had escaped the house by climbing out of a first floor window and then used a ladder from the garden to rescue one of the women inside. The Brigade’s 999 Control officers gave fire survival guidance to another one of the occupants before she too managed to leave the building via the ladder. The other woman inside escaped down the stairs and out of the property’s front door.
A Brigade spokesperson said: “The occupants of this house were alerted to the fire by their smoke alarms. It’s vital that you have a working smoke alarm on each level of your home and check them regularly as they can buy you vital seconds to escape in the event of a fire like this one.”
The Brigade was called at 2238 and the fire was under control by 2318. Four fire engines and around 20 firefighters from Greenwich, Forest Hill, Lee Green and Lewisham fire stations attended the incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Brigade and the police.