FIRE CREWS in Tavistock attended a night-time fire in a house in Whitchurch.

Luckily the smoke alarm at the property alerted the sleeping occupants to the fire which broke out in the dishwasher of their ground floor home.

Both fire appliances from Tavistock Fire Station attended the blaze at 1am yesterday morning (Thursday, October 12).

Later, a further fire appliance was called in from Yelverton.

A fire station spokesman from Tavistock said: "[The] couple were woken by the sound of their smoke alarm, only to discover a serious developing fire in the kitchen.

"Fortunately, they had shut the door on the kitchen before going to bed and prevented much worse damage.

"Crews used four breathing apparatus sets, two hose reels and a thermal imaging camera to extinguish the fire. There was still considerable smoke damage throughout the property and without their working smoke alarms they may not have got out of the property alive."

They added that the 13-year-old dishwasher hadn't been put on overnight.

"A strong reminder to isolate your appliances if possible at the socket and check you alarms are in good condition."