FIRE broke out at a historical Chiswick house early this morning – and was only discovered because of an alarm company's mix up.

At 1.56am Chiswick fire brigade were called to Hogarth's House by the alarm company, however on their arrival they found it was the burglar alarm going off and they could see a man leaving the area.

Watch manger Alan Moore called the police but made the decision to 'stick around' while police searched the Hogarth Lane premises.

"The police couldn't find any sign of forced entry and it just seemed like a mix up, but then the tone of the alarm suddenly changed to a fire alarm and we started smelling an electrical burning smell and smoke started billowing across the street," said Watch Manager Moore.

The electrical intake room, where the mains from the road are connected to the house, was on fire.

It took four fire engines and 20 fire men half an hour to get the blaze under control, with 15 per cent of the ground floor being damaged and the stair case being burnt through.

"We were very lucky that the burglar alarm went off and fortunately we made the decision to stay. If we had left after first realising the mix up then I don't think we would have got back in time.

"The fire would have just ripped through the entire building and I'm pretty sure it would have been gone."

Watch Manger Moore explained that the 1700 timber frame of the Hounslow Council-owned house would have stood no match for the fire if they had not caught it immediately.

"It's an English Heritage building so obviously we did the best we could," said Mr Moore.

Hogarth's House is currently undergoing redevelopment following a lottery grant so fortunately none of the ancient paintings or furniture were in the building when the blaze took hold.

Staff working on the house's redevelopment visited the fire fighters at the station this morning to offer them their thanks.