The scene of this morning's fire in Fishermead is pictured above. Click on the thumbnail below for another picture.

Firefighters were able to prevent a fire from spreading along a terrace of houses this morning.

Crews from Great Holm, Broughton and Aylesbury were called to a three-storey home in Tolcarne Avenue, Fishermead, at 5.30am.

Station Manager Tim Parkins, incident commander, said: "On their arrival they were faced with a well developed fire on all three floors. The internal staircase had burned away and they did a tremendous job to contain the fire to a single property.

"There are signs that the fire might have been started deliberately, and we are carrying out a thorough fire investigation."

One of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service's fire investigation dogs Barney and his handler Kerry Burns attended the scene later in the morning.

Two people were evacuated from the house next door, and the British Red Cross Fire and Emergency Support Service was called in from Bletchley Fire Station to help look after them.

Firefighters used 10 sets of breathing apparatus, two hose reels, two main jets and an aerial platform to put out the fire.

Although the house was fitted with smoke alarms, they were not working.

Tim said: "Had they been working, it is highly likely that we would have been called sooner and the fire would not have developed to such an extent that there was a danger of it spreading to other properties."

Firefighters have stepped up their programme of free safety checks on the estate since a fire in Penryn Avenue in September, when two people had to be rescued from a third-floor bedroom window.

To book one of these checks, and have free smoke alarms fitted where necessary, ring 01296 744477, send an email to cs@bucksfire.gov.uk or fill in the online form.