Homeowners safely escaped their house when they were woken by their smoke alarm after a log burner caused a fire in the middle of the night.

Watch Commander Rob Allport said: “On our arrival the front room was smoke logged but fortunately the family had all evacuated owing to their smoke alarm activating in hallway.

“We would like to take this opportunity to remind homeowners to test their smoke alarm maybe when you visit family and elderly neighbours over the festive period it’s a good opportunity to make sure theirs works as well.

“The cause of this fire was accidental. The occupier had placed logs next to his wood burner to dry out and the radiated heat caused the stack to catch alight.”

The house fire was in Oilmills Road in Pondersbridge, near Whittlesey, on Saturday December 20 at 3am.

One crew from Stanground and one crew from Whittlesey extinguished the fire using a hose reel and returned to their stations by 3.50am.