A man was saved by fire crews after a house fire broke out in Clapham in the early hours of Friday (August 13).

The blaze struck a three-storey house on Hambalt Road in Clapham sometime before 1am on Friday morning when London Fire Brigade (LFB) were called.

LFB said that most of the ground and first floors of the house were damaged by the fire, highlighting its impact.

As around 25 firefighters from Clapham, Battersea, Brixton and Tooting tackled the fire, several helped rescue a man trapped inside, as an LFB spokesperson described:

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued one man from the ground floor using a fire escape hood. He was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews. Another two men were treated at the scene."

Sub Officer Carl Isaacs, who was at the scene, described what happened in further detail and offered words on the importance of the 'fire escape hood' used in the rescue: "Firefighters worked incredibly hard to quite quickly get the fire under control, which aided the rescue of the man by breathing apparatus crews.

"He was on the ground floor of the property and firefighters bought him out using a fire escape hood.

"Fire escape hoods provide members of the public with up to 15 minutes protection from four of the main fire gases (carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride and acrolein) and can be worn by conscious or unconscious people.

"If more than 15 minutes protection is required then another hood can be given to each wearer. They do not provide oxygen but temporarily filter toxic smoke to make breathing easier," he said.

The cause of the fire, which was eventually brought under control around 2.37am, is now under investigation.