A fire brigade dog unit has been drafted in to help determine the cause of the fire which saw five people rescued from a burning building in High Wycombe early this morning.

Five people were rescued when a fire broke out at a house containing flats on West Wycombe Road, near the BP garage in the early hours.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in a multiple occupancy house on West Wycombe Road at 2.13am, saying the fire was in a bedsit.

Four men and a woman were pulled to safety from the burning house, which was badly damaged in the incident.

One man was taken to hospital suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke.

The building's landlord Andrew Free said the damage is extensive, and cursed his luck after a fire gutted another of his High Wycombe properties last month.

He said: "I can’t really say much at the moment, I have to go back there and board it up. Everybody is alright, and the fire alarm worked. But it’s not pretty in there that’s for sure.

“I’m having quite the year. But the main thing is no body was seriously hurt." 

An investigation is underway involving Thames Valley Police and fire crews, with the London Fire Brigade’s dog investigation unit currently on the scene.

But officers have not yet confirmed if they believe the serious fire was a result of arson.

A neighbour who has lived next door for two and a half years said he woke up to find smoke in his room and got out as fast as he could.

The resident, who did not want be named, said: "I was asleep when it happened, but I was woken up by a beeping sound and there was smoke in my room.

"I got outside and waited out there for over two hours.

"I didn't go back into the house until now because I had to go to work. It smells a lot in my flat so I'm just trying to clean it up as best I can now."