A MAN had to be rescued from his home when a fire started in an outbuilding caused the property to become filled with smoke.

Firefighters were called to Tampits Road, in Church, at around 6am yesterday after reports of flames in the back yard.

They said the blaze was under investigation and could not rule out that it had been started deliberately. The 33-year-old man, who was in the house on his own, was led to safety by crew members.

He was checked over at the scene, but did not need to go to hospital.

A large dog was also in the property at the time, but was unharmed.

Crew manager Stephen Horrocks said: “We are thinking that the fire was started deliberately.

“It had been burning for a while and slowly spread along the yard and smoke logged the house.

“The man will be okay, he just got a lung-full of smoke.

“The shed was completely destroyed.

“And the roof of the toilet block was also badly damaged.”