Firefighters have warned against smoking in bed after they were called to a bedroom blaze in South Tyneside.
The fire started in the bedroom on the first floor of a maisonette on Baring Street in South Shields late on Sunday night after a cigarette was discarded carelessly.
Two crews from South Shields fire station were called to the house fire just before 11.30pm to extinguish the flames.
The fire had damaged the mattress and bed frame and the bedroom was completely smoke damaged.
The other rooms in the two storey home were also damaged by smoke.
A man had managed to get outside before the fire crews arrived and he was assessed by paramedics for burns to his chest and fingers before being taken to hospital.
A spokesperson for the North East Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 11.44pm on Sunday to a private address in South Shields. We dispatched a double crewed ambulance and a rapid response paramedic and took one person to South Tyneside hospital."
A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "The cause of the fire was carelessly discarded smoking materials.
"We’d like to take this opportunity to remind all smokers that they shouldn’t smoke in bed, and that they must ensure their cigarettes are completely extinguished, especially before they go to sleep.”
Emergency services left the scene shortly after midnight.
