The scene in Rothwell Street

NEIGHBOURS in Primrose Hill got a shock when they looked out of their windows on Sunday morning to see crews tackling a house fire.

The London Fire Brigade think an electrical fault in underfloor heating was the spark.

The fire broke out in the ground-floor bathroom of a four-storey terraced house in Rothwell Street and filled the upper floors with black smoke.

Firefighters were called just before 10.20am with engines arriving from Hornsey, Kentish Town, West Hampstead and Paddington fire stations at the incident.

One elderly resident was helped to safety from the upper floors, but there were no reported injuries.

According to firefighters at the scene, the brigade’s high response was because the fire was a “puzzle,” in that there were no obvious flames, making it difficult to immediately confirm where it was coming from.

Victoria Hooberman, who lives next door, said she was worried about her own property when she saw two of the fire engines unrolling their hoses.

She said: “Obviously it’s a second-tier concern, but once I knew there was no threat to life I was just praying they weren’t going to use those hoses, because they can cause so much damage. They are so powerful.”

The fire was under control within an hour.

Ms Hooberman added: “The whole incident really brought out that blitz spirit. “I offered all the officers tea and realised I didn’t even have enough cups.”

Catherine Charles, who lives across the street, said: “Everybody was surprised at how many firefighters there were. People started coming out of their houses very quickly. It’s curiosity but also concern for the neighbours.

“People instinctively seem to want to come and help, which is very reassuring, and we were all chatting in the street afterwards, saying we should do this more regularly under different circumstances.”

She also praised the firefighters at the scene.

“It was fascinating to watch it all. They worked really well together,” she said.