Houses badly damaged in major blaze at terraced homes in Telford
Seven fire crews battled a serious blaze that broke out in a row of terraced homes in Telford.
No-one was hurt in the major incident early this morning but people had to be evacuated from the homes affected.
The first floor of an end-of-terrace house was completely gutted in the fire that broke out just before 4.30am on Wednesday with another seriously damaged.
Fire chiefs praised crews who prevented the blaze from spreading.
An investigation into the blaze was due to take place later on Wednesday.
Craig Jackson of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Crews called at 4.30am and we currently have six crews and one aerial platform at a property fire in Malinslee. While we were en route control was having several 999 calls to the incident and made sure we had had enough resources sent out.
"On arrival we were met with a severe fire on the first floor of an end-of-terrace property. We worked to stop the fire spreading to the rest of the properties."
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went into the burning house to make a fire-break to stop the blaze spreading.
Station manager Jackson said there was nobody in the property on fire when crews arrived and police and firefighters immediately began ensuring neighbouring homes were evacuated.
"We quickly evacuated the properties adjoining the end terrace property," he said.
There were about 40 firefighters and support officers on the scene at the height of the operation and the fire took two hours to bring under control.
Emergency services are expected to remain on the scene for much of the day damping down the fire and carrying out an investigation.
"I would like to say a really big thank you to our firefighters," said Mr Jackson. "Their quick actions putting in fire-breaks did save a lot of properties. We worked closely with our police and ambulance colleagues with police working to evacuate adjoining properties.
"We are now working with gas and electricity colleagues to make sure the buildings are safe. An investigation will take place later this morning."
Amber Watch of Wellington Fire Station urged people to stay away and avoid the area: "There are a lot of emergency vehicles in the area, including police and ambulance so please take extra care if travelling through Malinslee this morning, or avoid the area if at all possible."
