Firefighters arrived at a Queensberry house fire on Saturday night ''just in time'' to prevent more serious damage.
Cromwell Volunteer Fire Brigade Station Officer Phil Ryan said the fire had started in the top third of a flue above an open fire in the four-year-old house and the damage was confined to the lounge.
''It was a good save -we got there just in time and had the fire under control within about 20 minutes. Even if we were a minute later arriving, it would've been a different story because the flames were starting to come through the walls,'' Mr Ryan said.
Two fire crews from Cromwell and one from Luggate fought the blaze, which possibly started as a chimney fire, he said. They spent more than two hours at the property.
The couple who owned the house contacted emergency services after hearing strange noises and seeing smoke coming from under the eaves. The house had smoke alarms and the couple had done ''all the right things''.
Some ceiling and wall panels had been pulled away to allow firefighters to tackle the seat of the fire but the fire-related damage was confined to about a third of the lounge, Mr Ryan said.
''The owners were pretty lucky and it could've been much more serious, especially if it had happened in the middle of the night.''
