Regional: House heavily damaged after fire in Bicester

Crews from Bicester, Kidlington and Oxford responded to multiple calls of a house fire in Bicester on Tuesday morning, June 1.

On arrival crews were faced with a well-developed fire at the rear and front of the property, with thick black smoke issuing out of all the windows after spreading throughout the rest of the house.

Firefighters responded a house fire in Lerwick Croft, Bicester around 10.30am on Tuesday June1.

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue said: "We were told that a member of public had managed to rescue the resident’s dogs before we turned up, and that there might be persons inside.

After forcing entry through the front door, crews wearing breathing apparatus entered the house and with the aid of a thermal image camera quickly extinguished the fire using a high-pressure hose reel jet before searching throughout the property to confirm that thankfully nobody was inside."

The property was ventilated, and all hotspots damped down before investigating the cause of the fire, which is believed to be accidental due to an electrical appliance.

Fortunately, the residents had working smoke alarms which if they had been in the house when the fire started would have given them early warning and enough time to get themselves out safely.

The whole house was affected either directly by the fire or smoke and heat damage - except for the front bedroom, which is untouched purely because the bedroom door was closed.

The spokesperson for the fire service added: "Please ensure you not only have working smoke alarms, but close your doors at night and when you leave the house, just look at the difference it makes- this wasn't a fire door just a standard bedroom door."