PEOPLE living next to a man who died in a fire have told of the tragic moment the alarm was raised.

Fire crews from Eastleigh and St Mary's raced to Archers Road in Eastleigh on Friday, May 6. 

Plumes of smoke were seen billowing from the property around 6am, but the fire was soon extinguished.

READ MORE: Man's body found after fire rips through home

The man's death is not being treated as suspicious and his family have been informed.

The next-door neighbour of the affected house, who did not want to be named, said he was alerted when he was suddenly told by another neighbour to get out of his home.

He said: "We were told by the neighbour on the other side to get out of the house.

"By the time I got to the top of the stairs, there was smoke in our house.

“Smoke was billowing out of next door. We couldn’t get back in the house for ages and there was no damage to our property.

“But that is irrelevant when someone has lost their life.”

Another resident, who has lived in Archers Road all their life, said: “The other houses were very lucky.”

Others described seeing fire engines racing down the road in the early hours.

A file will be prepared for the coroner and a joint police and fire investigation will now take place.

Crews left the area at around 9.25am on Friday after being called in the early hours.

A fire service statement said: "Crews from Eastleigh and St Mary’s were called to a house fire in Archers Road, Eastleigh, at just before 06.30 on Friday morning.

"Firefighters wore breathing apparatus to put out a fire on the ground floor, using hose reel jets and main jets. A ventilation fan was used to clear smoke."

Hampshire police added: "His death is not being treated as suspicious and his family have been informed.

"A file will be prepared for the coroner."