AN INVESTIGATION has been launched today after a fire severely damaged a house.It is believed a man living at the two-storey property fought his way back in to the burning building to rescue his dogs.

AN INVESTIGATION has been launched today after a fire severely damaged a house.

It is believed a man living at the two-storey property fought his way back in to the burning building to rescue his dogs.

Three crews from Bury St Edmunds attended the scene in The Park at 1.20am today, and on arrival, they requested the assistance of two more crews.

A crew from the East of England Ambulance Trust was called and the man, who was outside by the time the fire service arrived, was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk Fire said the fire, which destroyed most of the house, is not being treated as suspicious.

EDF Energy was also called to isolate the house's power supply, which is usual in cases of serious fires, the spokeswoman added.

Suffolk Fire Service's assistant divisional officer, Mark Steggall said: “When my first crews arrived, the house was engulfed in flames. It is completely gutted and uninhabitable.

“The power supply had to be cut off for the safety of the crews. There was an overhead power cable going in to the property which was causing a hazard.

“A fire investigation has begun to establish the cause of the fire.

“I want to praise the crews. The flames were immense and they managed to stop the fire from spreading to nearby properties.”

It took two hours to extinguish flames and crews were still damping down this morning at 8am.