Four fire engines and 21 firefighters and officers dealt with a house fire on Walham Grove in Fulham, yesterday afternoon.
The blaze badly damaged the chimney of the three storey property, but thankfully no one was injured.
The three occupants, two woman and man, were alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm and left the property before the Brigade arrived.
Watch Manager John Waller said:
"Once again smoke alarms helped save lives. Our advice is to have a working smoke alarm on every level of your home and the safest option is have the alarms linked together. This will give the earliest warning if there is a fire in your home."
The cause of the fire was deemed to be accidental. The open fire in the chimney was light up for heating, but due to build up of soot it spread to the roof.
John continued:
“If people are using solid fuel such as coal and logs on a regular basis, we recommend that the chimney should be swept twice a year to avoid the build up of soot. We advise to use a professional chimney sweep, as they would also carry out a smoke test on the chimney to check for its integrity.”
The Brigade was called at 1827 and the fire was under control by 2004. Fire crews from Fulham, Kensington, Clapham and Chelsea fire stations attended the scene.