QUICK action by firefighters yesterday prevented serious damage to a house after a blaze broke out in a bedroom.

Richard Cornwell

QUICK action by firefighters yesterday prevented serious damage to a house after a blaze broke out in a bedroom.

Owners of the property in Woodbridge were away for the weekend, but a neighbour heard a smoke alarm going off and rang 999.

Four crews attended the incident in Lower Haugh Lane, but work by the first-to-arrive Woodbridge crew managed to bring the fire quickly under control and stop it spreading to other parts of the four-bed detached property.

Four officers wearing breathing apparatus and using hose reel jets extinguished the flames.

Assistant divisional officer David Atkinson said the fire started in a first-floor bedroom but at this stage the cause was not known.

“At this time it is still under investigation and we will need to speak to the owners when they return,” he said.

“It was good that the property was fitted with smoke alarms because without them this fire would have been far more serious and could have spread throughout the house.

“The Woodbridge crew did really well and their actions stopped the fire spreading to the roof and mitigated any further damage.”

There was smoke damage to the first-floor and some fire damage to the bedroom.

The fire was spotted at around 4pm and firefighters from Woodbridge, Colchester Road and two engines from Princes Street, Ipswich, attended.

Crews brought the blaze under control by 4.50pm.

The neighbour who called the fire service said it would be awful for the owners to return home to.

“I was just coming in and I heard the smoke alarms going off and immediately rang the fire service,” said the man, who declined to be named.