A father and his two-year-old daughter were treated in hospital after a fire at their home.

The 24-year-old soldier was asleep downstairs on the sofa when a candle fell over and started the blaze. His daughter was asleep upstairs but he managed to rescue her and escape.

Firefighters arrived at the terraced house on an Army estate in Colchester at 10.30pm last night.

Flames had taken hold in the lounge and smoke had spread throughout the house.

Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went in to put out the blaze and check the house over.

The soldier and his daughter were taken by ambulance to Colchester General Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. The man also had a minor burn. The pair were discharged after treatment.

Colchester fire station officer Dave Bridgman said: "There was a large amount of smoke pouring out of the front and the back of the house.

"The occupant and his daughter were outside. The lounge was totally gutted. How they managed to get out I don't know."

Mr Bridgman said the fire had probably been burning for about half an hour before the alarm was raised.

"A lot of the plastic on the furniture had melted and the whole house was severely smoke damaged."

Neighbours were evacuated from the homes while firefighters made sure that the properties were safe.

One resident, mother-of-two Dawn Cooper, said she heard the fire alarm sounding but did not think anything was wrong.

"Cooking sets them off so we often do not really pay any attention to it," she said.

She added: "It was only when the fire engines got here and told me to come out that I could smell a really strong electrical smell in my house."

Charred - some of the aftermath of the fire which so nearly caused a tragedy

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