Two people lives were saved by a smoke alarm as a fire tore through their Surbiton home.
The London Fire Brigade said the alarm prevented a “very different ending”.
Group manager Dave O’Neill, who went to the fire, said: “Smoke alarms undoubtedly saved the lives of the two people who were inside at the time.
“A woman staying there was awoken by the alarm going off and found patches of fire on the carpet and left the house with another resident.
“I can’t stress how important smoke alarms are. You should have them on every floor of your home and you should test them regularly.
“If this house didn’t have a working smoke alarm, the story could have had a very different ending.”
Crews from Surbiton, New Malden, Kingston, Twickenham, Wimbledon, Sutton, Richmond and Heston fire stations were at the scene, along with one crew from Esher.
A woman was taken to hospital with a leg injury.
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