Firefighters say a 25-year-old man is lucky to be alive following a house fire in South Pembrokeshire on Saturday.
On arrival, they found a well-developed fire on the first floor of the house and a young man suffering from burns to his face and back as well as the effects of smoke inhalation.
Firefighters gave him initial first aid and transferred his care to paramedics who later conveyed him to hospital.
The house was once the Ludchurch School and was a large property. The house was full of stock items for a shop and this high fire loading, coupled with high winds, caused the fire to spread rapidly from the first floor into the roof space.
The blaze started in the bathroom area and the cause is currently under investigation.
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said later that it was clear that the fire, which was finally extinguished at midnight, had had time to take hold before it was discovered.
Had the house been fitted with smoke alarms, the young man would probably not have been burnt in making his escape, by being alerted early enough by such an alarm.
Nick Webley, who has responsibility for the Pembrokeshire County Command area, said: "It makes good sense to have working smoke alarms to give you an early warning of a fire. This is crucial in allowing you to get out of the house and to call for help."
He added: "When you see the damage that a fire causes to life or property, you would appreciate how important it is to have an early warning of fire." Mr. Webley said the young man involved in the blaze was very lucky.
"The first floor was well alight when the crews from Tenby and Narberth arrived. The young man was lucky to have escaped when he did, because his injuries would have been much worse had he stayed inside any longer.
"I shudder to think what would have happened to an older person who couldn't move as quickly as he did."
The young man is believed to have been sleeping when the fire broke out and he awoke to hear the crackling of the fire.
For him to escape, he had to wet himself with towels and run through the fire and down the stairs, and is thought to have acquired nasty burns to his face and arms and smoke inhalation.
Said a neighbour, Sue Pike: "It was quite frightening with the fire so near, but we all said afterwards that we were very lucky that the wind was blowing north-easterly, otherwise I think we would have been evacuated because of the heavy smoke.
"The fire raged all day and night, whilst the firemen took it in turns to douse the blaze," she added.
"The strong winds caused pockets of fire to flare up well into the night, in fact at midnight it looked almost magical and enticing whilst the flames entwined the burnt roof and window timbers against the black sky and only finally died its death around 5 am."
• For a free home fire safety check of your home, ring 0800 169 1234.