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A man has been arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting a fire that destroyed a house in south east London.
Around 40 firefighters tackled the blaze at a semi-detached property on Stanstead Road, Catford.
Half of a three-bed flat on the ground floor was damaged by flames around 5.45am on Sunday, London Fire Brigade said.
A spokesman said: “One man left the building before the Brigade arrived and was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service.”
The Metropolitan Police added a male in his 40s was detained on suspicion of arson with intent to danger life and remains in hospital with officers.
The force said: “We were called at 5.45am on Sunday, March 2 to reports of a fire at a house in Stanstead Road in Catford.
“There were no reports of any injuries. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing with the London Fire Brigade.”
LFB control officers took the first of nine calls at around 5.38am and mobilised six engines crews from Forest Hill, Lewisham, Greenwich and surrounding fire stations.
The fire was under control an hour later.
London Ambulance Service said: “We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team (HART).
“We treated a man at the scene before taking him to a hospital.”
