Firefighters rescued three people from a fire in Ramsey early this morning.

Four fire crews from Ramsey, Laxey and Douglas were called to the scene on Glen Elfin Road at about 4.50am with reports of people trapped in properties.

On arrival, firefighters found two houses on fire and rescued three people from the first floor window of one house, with all other occupants self evacuating.

Crews were faced with fires in both properties, a heating oil tank running fuel fire, an electrical intake fire as well as two car fires and a shed fire.

A spokesman said: ’Crews identified that due to intense heat the structural integrity of one of the properties appeared to be compromised, and setup a safety cordon to manage this hazard.

’Adjacent properties were then checked for heat, smoke and fire spread using thermal imaging cameras.

’All casualties were treated on scene for smoke inhalation by our colleagues in the Isle of Man Ambulance service.’

At present, the cause of the fire has not been determined.