Family members were rushed to hospital after a blaze broke out in a Sheerness this morning.

The couple and their teenage son were treated for smoke inhalation after the fire, which also claimed the lives of three cats.

The blaze started in the first-floor bedroom of the terraced house in Alexandra Road at shortly after 9am.

VIDEO: Three cats have died in the blaze.

Emergency services, including three fire engines and two ambulance crews, were called after a neighbour saw smoke billowing out a window.

Sam Wise, 27, who lives next door to the property, said: “We had our front room window open so first we could smell the smoke.

“We called fire and then there was a big bang on our door and my neighbour was there.

“She was running up the road going, ‘my house is on fire!’ I think her husband was still in there because it was just her and her son outside.

“Five minutes later he came out with his hair and eyelashes all singed.

“It was scary.”

There was also said to be a large number of pets inside the home at the time.

Firefighters reportedly rescued four dogs and some cats before treating them with specially designed animal oxygen masks.

But a Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said some of the pets perished in the blaze.

She added RSPCA officials had been notified of the incident.

Witness James Crouch, of nearby Unity Street, watched the scene unfold and described seeing firefighters evacuate nearby homes.

He said: “When the bloke came out he was all covered in soot.

“I think [firefighters] entered into next door – they had to smash the windows in.”

Another bystander Alana Telford, 20, also of Unity Street, said: “I stood here at 9.10am and there was one bit of smoke and by 9.15am it was up in flames.

“It went in minutes from one little bit of smoke to it being black.”