Residents from three Telford homes were forced to flee for safety when a blaze ripped through their row of terraced houses.
Firefighters battled the blaze, in Crescent Road, Hadley, for around three hours. One home was severely damaged and its roof collapsed after the fire in the early hours of Monday.
The roofs and loft spaces of two neighbouring homes were also badly damaged by the fire.
A 26-year-old Polish man escaped from the property worst affected thanks to being woken up by his smoke alarm.
The man’s 92-year-old neighbour and a man and his son and daughter next door to her were also forced to leave their homes.
Properties were later cordoned off amid concern that more tiles could fall off the roofs.
Fire crews from Wellington, Telford Central and Tweedale were called to the fire and appliances from Hodnet and Newport were sent later to check the properties over.
Twenty-nine firefighters were involved in fighting the flames.
Sub officer at Wellington Fire Station, Ian Leigh, said: “We were alerted to a fire at 3.22am and on arrival we found it was well alight.
“There was smoke issuing from the rear. When the door was opened it was obvious the home was fully involved in fire. It was just full of flames.”
Mr Leigh added: “The lodger was woken by the smoke alarm, which has basically saved his life. He had got the presence of mind to realise what it was and saw the flames and managed to get out of the house fairly quickly.
“He was able to tell us there was no-one else inside. If his smoke alarm had not been fitted, or the batteries not in, it is unlikely he would have made it out alive.”
Mohammed Arshad, who runs Hadley Stores, said of the man forced to flee his property: “He told me when he heard the fire alarm and he saw the fire he came out. He knocked my door across the road. When I came out I called the fire brigade. He was very scared.”
Mr Arshad, who is a relative of the landlord, said he could see flames coming out of the roof.
Neighbour, Jag Mattu, described the fire as being “like an inferno.”
He said the elderly woman forced leave her home was being looked after by her daughter in St Georges.
The fire is believed to have started accidentally, possibly due to an electrical fault.
