A mother and her four-year-old son had a lucky escape when a fire broke out at their maisonette, which had no smoke alarm.
They managed to escape the upper floor of the converted semi-detached house, in Gloucester Road, Feltham, before firefighters arrived at around 12.35am on Thursday (April 16).
The pair were not hurt, but were taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
Watch manager Stuart Whitmore, of London Fire Brigade, said: "The woman and child had a very lucky escape, because they had gone to bed when the fire broke out around midnight.
"The fire began in the kitchen and was well alight, but there were no smoke alarms fitted to warn them of the serious danger facing them.
"Fortunately, the woman was awake, smelled smoke and called the brigade. If she been asleep the outcome could have been very different.”
He added: “Having a working smoke alarm is essential. Every home should have at least one.
"Smoke alarms provide a vital early warning and buy you extra time to escape if there is a fire.”
Two fire engines and around 10 firefighters and officers from Feltham fire station attended the incident.
It took them nearly two hours to control the blaze, which severely damaged the building's upper maisonette and roof.
A father, mother and child living in the lower maisonette, on the ground floor, left the building as fire crews arrived.
Firefighters carried their second child, a baby, to safety from a back room of their home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
