Firefighters tackled two fires which ripped through homes in the same street within the space of a few hours.

Members of the London Fire Brigade credited smoke alarms for saving the lives of two women in the two blazes in Chester Road, Tottenham, early this morning.

Crews were called to the first blaze at 2.50am when a woman was woken by her fire alarm, before running out of her house and calling the fire brigade.

Four fire engines from Tottenham and Hornsey attended the scene.

The fire was out by 4.44am but seriously damaged the first floor and part of the roof of the terraced property.

Paramedics took the woman to hospital as she was suffering from smoke inhalation.

The second fire began in the same street after a neighbour was awoken by the sounds of fire engines arriving to tackle the first blaze.

She lit a tealight candle in her bedroom which she placed on a plastic chest and left her house to see what the commotion was outside.

The woman later returned to her home and went back to bed with extinguishing the candle.

She was woken up by her fire alarm at around 6am to find her house on fire.

The woman ran from her home and asked her neighbour to call the fire brigade.

She also approached firefighters from Tottenham Fire Station, who were still in the road to deal with the aftermath of the first fire.

A crew from Hornsey then returned just after 6am to deal with the second fire.

The fire was out by 6.30pm and around one third of the first floor was damaged in the blaze.

Tottenham Watch Manager Lee Addington, who was at the scene; reminded everyone to make sure they had working smoke alarms in their homes.

He said: “When we arrived the house was well alight and crews worked really hard to bring the fire under control.

“Thanks to their efforts they managed to stop the fire from spreading to the properties either side.

“We believe the lady inside the property was alerted to the fire by her smoke alarm.

“It‘s absolutely vital that you have a smoke alarm on every level of your property to alert you in the event of a fire. They can buy you vital seconds to escape and really could save your life.”