FIRE crews rescued and revived an elderly man from a house fire in Chadwell St Mary overnight.

The lifesaving drama was played out when crews were alerted to the blaze at a property on Bowerman Road at 2.24 in the early hours of today (Monday, 3 January) and found the first floor of a two-storey house was 50 per cent alight.

A neighbour had raised the alarm and reported that the occupant might still be inside.

Firefighters found a man in his seventies who was unconscious and not breathing.

Station Manager Mark Elliott said: "We received good information from the caller that someone might be inside, so firefighters got into the building quickly.

"They did a really fantastic job. They found him in a back bedroom on a smoke-filled first floor, carried him out and revived him using oxygen therapy.

"Crews then worked quickly to stop the fire, limiting the damage and preventing it from spreading to the adjoining house."

Watch Manager Kevin Smith said: "Crews did an absolutely first class job; the speed in which they got into the property, rescued the casualty and administered oxygen and first aid was just brilliant.

"It was a real team effort and they gave the man a fighting chance."

The casualty was left in the care of the Ambulance Service.

Crews fully extinguished the fire by 3.48am.

An investigation will be carried out to establish the cause of the fire at the property, which did not have a fire or smoke alarm.