Residents flee Bournemouth flat fire unhurt
Residents were forced to flee a block of flats when a fire broke out and spread to the first and second floors.
The fire service believes the blaze started in some bins at the rear of the building, which houses flats and shops, in Christchurch Road in Bournemouth.
It was initially feared people may have been trapped but everyone managed to get to safety after being alerted by a fire alarm at about 0040 BST.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames. An investigation is under way.
Station manager Richard Jones, incident commander, said: "Luckily all the residents of the flats were able to get out of their properties and crews worked extremely hard to stop the fire causing further damage.
"This proves a working smoke alarm will provide the early warning to a fire and I would like to remind members of the public to have and rehearse a fire escape plan too, because it will prove invaluable if they are unfortunate enough to experience a fire."