17 People escape from house fire in Didcot

Crews from Didcot were called to a report of a house fire in Manor Crescent at 10:48pm on 27 December 2011.

On arrival crews discovered the family in the process of evacuating from the building and several members of the family attempting to tackle the fire.

A fire crew wearing breathing apparatus entered the building and located the fire in the first floor front bedroom. The fire was quickly brought under control and damage was confined to the upstairs of the property.

Three members of the family received precautionary checks from the South Central Ambulance.

The alarm was raised by a neighbour who saw the fire and alerted the family in order that they could escape, Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service would like to commend the actions of the neighbour that raised the alarm.  The alarm would have been raised sooner had the property been fitted with working smoke alarms.

Incident commander Jon Walker said: "Had the neighbour not been so vigilant the outcome could have been far worse and we urge everyone to ensure that they have a working smoke alarm on each floor of their property".

The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental.