Five people including two children had a lucky escape from a fire that whipped through their home extension in Wembley and into a neighbouring flat.

A blaze tore through an outbuilding attached to a home in Waverley Avenue at 6.10am yesterday (October 31).

One of the three adults heard the crackling sound of the fire and alerted the other four who were able to leave the property before the brigade arrived.

They also alerted their neighbours in the next door property.

A brick-built extension attached to the back of the house was destroyed by the blaze and part of the ground and first floor of the house were also damaged.

A small part of an adjacent property was also damaged in the fire.

@Meenaralslam, who lives next door, told the Brent & Kilburn Times: “The neighbours living in the house of the fire ran out and immediately began pounding on our door to wake us up to alert us.

“It was all very quick and quite shocking to be woken to what seemed like a big fire.

“The smell of the fire still lingers. The initial impression on waking up was of chaos and fear with shouting that we needed to get out quickly because there was a fire.”

She added: “My house suffered some minor fire damage - cracked windows, melted guttering, burned up boiler flue pipes and extractor fan was even scorched and melted in places.

“We were able to re-enter our property within an hour of the LFB arriving.”

The brigade has issued a reminder of the importance of fire alarms in different areas of a home as there were no alarms in the outbuilding,

Watch Manager John Baldwin, who was at the scene, said: “It was only thanks to the quick thinking of one of the occupants who was woken by the sound of the fire that she alerted everyone and got them out.

“While there were smoke alarms in the house, there were none in the extension.

“This goes to show the importance of having smoke alarms fitted in all areas of your home.

“Smoke alarms give the earliest possible warning of a fire and we would urge everyone to make sure they have one fitted on every level of their home and in every room where there is a risk of fire, except kitchens or bathrooms where heat alarms are more appropriate.”

The brigade was called at 6.09am and the fire was under control at 7.25am

Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters from Wembley, Park Royal and Northolt fire stations attended the scene.

In a separate incident crews were called to a blaze in a first floor flate in Cricklewood.

Four fire engines and around 25 fire fighters were called to Ashford Road at 12.22pm yesterday.

The fire was under control at 12.46pm.

Fire crews came from West Hampstead, Willesden, and Hendon fire stations.

The cause of both fires are under investigation.