AN ELDERLY man had a ‘very lucky’ escape after a fire ravaged through his West Dorset home leaving it ‘uninhabitable’.

Firefighters rushed to the property on Star Lane in Morcombelake shortly before 8am this morning to a blaze in the ground floor kitchen, which also affected the roof space of the property.

Four fire crews used main lines, hose reel jets and breathing apparatus to bring the fire under control.

The ambulance service was also called to check over the sole resident of the house, a 74-year-old man, after he suffered smoke inhalation. The man was not taken to hospital.

Speaking at the scene, Dorset Fire and Rescue Service incident commander Angus Nairn said: “We were called at roughly 7am to reports of a property fire.

"One crew from Charmouth attended initially, realised the fire was severe and called further crews from Lyme Regis and Bridport for assistance.

“The fire started in an outhouse but spread to the remainder of the building, resulting in all floors being involved in the fire.

“One man from the property escaped safely; he was very lucky. He had a smoke detector on the ground floor that activated.

“However, because he didn’t have a smoke detector on the first floor of the house, the warning to him of the fire was very delayed and in fact, the fire was first discovered by a neighbour.

“The important safety message from this is for residents to make sure when fitting smoke detectors that they are fitted on all floors of the house, not just the ground floor which may be considered the most at risk.

“The house will remain uninhabitable for the foreseeable future due to the damage from the severe fire.”

One Star Lane resident, who did not wish to be named, said he was woken up by the sound of smashing at approximately 7.30am that morning.

He added: “It was such a loud noise that I wondered what was going on. I am so glad the man is safe, he was very lucky from what I hear.

“The good thing about us here in Morcombelake is that we look after each other.”

One team from Western Power Distribution also attended the incident after the fire had been extinguished to disconnect the electricity supply at the house.

A spokesman on scene said: “The man was incredibly fortunate; the simple fact is you can replace a house but you can’t replace people.”