A fire has caused "substantial damage" to a Northumberland property.
Flames ripped through the property in Allendale on Saturday before spreading to a neighbouring house.
It was reported less than 20 minutes after crews were called to another fire in Blyth.
Firefighters from around Northumberland spent around four hours extinguishing the Allendale blaze, which covered the area in smoke.
"We were sitting outside in the sun and noticed it had gone really dark," said local Phil Coates.
"But it was these big black clouds coming from a house just a quarter of a mile away. It was quite bad."
Locals say it belonged to a family, although nobody was inside at the time.
Hundreds of homes had their power cut due to damaged cables as crews from Allendale, Hexham and Haltwhistle doused the flames.
In Blyth, firefighters were called at 2.42pm after the garage of a property caught alight before spreading to the house and a neighbouring property
The occupants managed to escape unharmed before it was brought under control.
Specialist investigation teams have been at both sites, looking to determine the cause of the fires.
