A PASSENGER onboard this morning's sailing of the Ben-my-Chree alerted fire crews to a house fire in Douglas.

Fire crews responded to the call from the passenger who saw smoke coming from a property on Head Road shortly after 7am.

Three fire engines were dispatched from Douglas and on arrival firefighters were faced with a fire in a first floor room.

Six firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using a thermal image camera entered the house and extinguished the fire within 20 minutes.

The fire had caused the rest of the first floor and upper floors to be smoke logged.

Firefighters remained in attendance for two hours to ensure the fire had been fully extinguished and the property was then ventilated using a positive pressure ventilation fan.

The cause of the fire is unknown and is currently under investigation.