Up to 20 homes were evacuated when fire took hold of a house in a terraced street in Leicester tonight and threatened to spread to its neighbours.
Fire crews were called to Luther Street, off Hinckley Road, in Leicester's West End shortly before 9pm.
Fire had taken hold in a house in the middle of the street and later spread to one of its neighbours.
Up to 20 homes were evacuated as firefighters tackled the fire – which appeared to be in the roof space – to prevent it spreading further.
Firefighters directed water jets at the upper floor of the house and neighbouring properties before bringing in a hydraulic platform to fight the flames from above.
A number of people were treated for the effects of smoke inhalation, although fire service personnel at the scene said nobody was seriously harmed.
Most people were expected to be able to return to their homes tonight.
However, it was not clear where people from the fire-effected houses were going to stay.
Residents gathered in the street to watch the fire crews, police and paramedics at work.
Geoffrey Vann, 68, said: "I head some bangs and breaking glass and came outside to see what was going on and saw that a house was on fire.
"It seemed to spread between two or three houses and I could see flames coming out of the roof of one.
"The trouble seems to be that it is spreading through the roof."
Billy O'Rourke, 55, said: "I've never seen anything like it ever.
"It looked like it was in the attic and that's bad because it could have spread to a lot of other houses.
"These properties are 100 years old and the lofts run into each other.
"When I first got here there was just one fire engine directing a hose at the houses, now there are more and they seem to be getting control of it.
"As far as I know, nobody has been injured, thankfully.
"But those houses are going to be in bad shape because of the fire and all the water that's been pumped into them.
"People work hard to put a roof over their heads and now they've had this happen to them."
Dave Watson, of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said crews were called to the blaze shortly before 9pm.
He said the fire spread from the house to a neighbouring home while several others were damaged by smoke.
Up to 20 homes were evacuated for their occupants' safety, he said.
He said: "We are not in a position to investigate the cause at the moment.
"The fire has affected one property and its neighbour. There are also roughly 20 properties which were evacuated for the residents' safety."
