completely gutted yesterday had the owner not lived seconds from the Port Royal Fire Station.

At about 4.30 p.m. Mr. Carlton Darrell and his daughter said they smelled smoke and heard crackling noises. They went outside to investigate thinking trash was being burned. But instead they saw smoke and flames billowing from an apartment at the eastern end of the house.

The tenant Mrs. Gwendolyn Brown had not been home at the time, Mr. Darrell said.

His daughter ran to call the fire brigade, but the phone lines had been burnt leaving all the telephones in the house out of order.

So she jumped in her car, drove down the road to the fire station and summoned help.

Though Mrs. Brown's apartment was gutted and suffered extensive water and smoke damage, the rest of the house was unharmed except for water damage to the room below.

A Fire Service spokesman said the cause was still under investigation, but foul play had been ruled out.

As a result of three fire engines in the area, rush-hour traffic was backed up for miles on Middle Road, Southampton until around 7 p.m.