A resident has praised the "magnificent" response of fire crews after a garage blaze threatened to engulf his home while his family slept inside.

Several fire engines were sent to the property in City Way, Rochester, near the junction with St William's Way, last week.

The garage was completely destroyed and the house badly damaged by smoke.

Flames from the lock-up swept to the roof space and caused the soffits of a neighbouring house to catch alight.

Fire crews were sent after 1am last Thursday and used main jets and a fog spike to extinguish the flames and stop them spreading further.

It is believed the blaze started due to an electrical fault with an appliance. No casualties were reported and the incident was declared over at 4.27am.

Now the occupant has praised the firefighters who came to his family's rescue.

"Shock is the main word," said David, who is in his 60s and lives in the property with his wife and pet Labrador.

"We were asleep when we heard a noise and my wife alerted me and went downstairs to get the dog out the lounge," he explained.

"Smoke was going into the lounge and she rescued the dog and I came down to unlock the front door."

"I managed to move the car and by the time I had done three fire engines arrived."

David described the actions of the firefighters, and his neighbours who alerted the emergency services, as "magnificent".

"We owe them a lot of thanks," he said. "If they had not arrived it would have been a lot worse."

'If they had not arrived it would have been a lot worse...'

Crews were able to salvage a number of items while their volunteer response team was on-hand to offer support to residents.

David says if it were not for the brave and prompt action of firefighters on the night the flames could have spread much further.

"We are very lucky that it didn't destroy more," he added.

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