Two elderly people were led to safety from a block of flats in Oxford after thick smoke spread through the building.
One was found slumped in the hallway of his second-floor flat suffering from smoke inhalation as fire crews searched the building in Barton. He was conscious but was unable to get himself to safety.
Other residents left the flats after being alerted by neighbours.
Station Officer Ian Cox said smoke had come through the letter box and under the door.
A spokesman for the ambulance service said they had taken a 60-year-old man to the John Radcliffe Hospital.
A first-floor resident, who had inhaled smoke, was also helped from the building.
The fire at Brome Place is believed to have been started deliberately in a storage area for bins.
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