FIREFIGHTERS have praised a blaze victim for preventing the spread of flames at a manor house on the outskirts of Totnes yesterday.

Alison Foster was forced to flee her two-storey home at Old Gatcombe House near Littlehempston after fire broke out in her drawing room in the middle of the night.

But before quitting the property, she 'did the right thing' by shutting the door on the blaze which stopped it wreaking havoc throughout the rest of the building, which has been converted into five flats.

Alison and two neighbours got out safely at 3.30am, allowing six fire crews from Totnes, Paignton and Buckfastleigh to tackle the incident.

Fire damage was confined to just 25 per cent of the ground floor drawing room with minor smoke damage through the rest of the flat.

Totnes-based watch commander Steve Howrihane said: "The fire was quite severe when we arrived.

"We initially put in four firefighters wearing breathing gear, and one jet.

"Crews found the fire very promptly and were able to knock it down quickly.

"We checked upstairs to make sure the fire had not gone through the flooring, which it hadn't."

He was anxious to draw attention to the occupant's sensible action of containing the blaze by shutting the door before she evacuated the property, which is not far from the Pig and Whistle pub.

"By closing the door on the drawing room she effectively prevented it from spreading and doing greater damage to the property. It was the correct thing to do. She did well," said Mr Howrihane.

He reckoned an electrical fault in the wiring system may have been responsible for the fire, which was attended by two pumps each from Totnes and Paignton, one from Buckfastleigh and an incident control vehicle from Totnes.

The evacuees were able to return to their homes within three hours.

Mr Howrihane said the wooden floor of the affected drawing room had been machine sanded the previous day.

"The occupant was concerned about a possible smell of smoke at the time. It's possible the fire was there — but very small — and broke out while she was in bed," he said.

He revealed that the flat was still habitable.

Everyone was back inside their homes by 6.30am.

Part of the fire-fighting operation at the block of flats involved the use of thermal imaging equipment and a positive pressure ventilation fan to clear smoke from the property .