Three people required medical treatment after a fire caused serious damage to a house in Selhurst on Sunday evening.

A 42-year-old man, a 68-year-old woman and an 88 year-old woman were treated for smoke inhalation and shock at the scene by emergency services staff after escaping the blaze in Holmewood Road.

Four fire engines--one from Croydon, one from Woodside, and two from Norbury--were called to the property at 6.52pm yesterday. Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service also attended the scene.

A fire services spokesman said the first floor of the terraced house had been "pretty much destroyed" in the blaze, with the property's loft space also left badly damaged.

Woodside Fire Station watch manager Danny Kelly said his team had arrived to find "flames punching out of the first floor window", but that officers had managed to get the fire under control quickly before it spread to adjacent houses.

Mr Kelly said the situation could have been much worse if the house hadn't had a fully-functioning smoke alarm.

"What stopped there being more damage was that their smoke alarms were working," said Mr Kelly.

"Fire alarms do save lives, and the London Fire Brigade and County Fire Services fit them free of charge."

Eyewitness Colin Hillman told the Croydon Guardian he had been driving down Whitehorse Lane when he first noticed fire engines and an ambulance in the Holmewood Road cul-de-sac.

"It looked very bad, and you could actually smell [the fire] as you came down the road," said Mr Hillman.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, with investigators at the scene until around 8am this morning.