A ‘ferocious’ fire ripped through two houses in Woodley on Tuesday.

A woman lost her home and possessions the day of her husband’s funeral, according to a fundraising campaign.

The fire service, which faced their busiest day on record, rescued two people from the semi-detached properties in Selsdon Avenue using an aerial ladder.

“As many of you are aware there was a horrendous fire in Woodley yesterday. This sadly was my mother-in-law's house,” said Megan Warren in a statement on the fundraising site GoFundMe.

“The day of her husband’s funeral, she has lost everything she owns in a ferocious fire.

“The houses are all beyond repair and looks like very little will be recovered. Thankfully nobody was hurt but now Julie and her wonderful neighbours who have two young children have to re-build their entire lives.”

“Anything you can donate to help the two families would be so unbelievably generous and we cannot thank everyone enough for their support so far.”

READ MORE: New record set for hottest temperature ever recorded in Reading

Dark, black smoke could be seen from half a mile away after the blaze broke out at 2.20pm.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service crews from Caverhsam, Wokingham, Ascot, Crowthorne, Whitley Wood and Theale tackled the fire for more than six hours.

Almost £5,000 has been raised in 24 hours on GoFundMe and a car-full of clothes were donated to Woodley volunteer coordinator Ronnie Goodbury to redistribute.

“The residents of Woodley just do it time and time again. It doesn’t matter what it is, it could be a family in need, it could be a family with food issues: If and when people need stuff, Woodley residents say ‘yep, okay, lets get it done.’

"It’s the same with the Ukraine stuff and the food stuff, they just do it. The community here is absolutely fabulous.

“But I am getting stuff from further afield today: People from Wokingham, Caversham, Tilehurst. When it gets down to it, people care.”

“The residents have been absolutely fantastic and they come together when it’s needed, pure community spirit, that’s all you can put it down to.”

READ MORE: Power cut in Reading area as heatwave hits 36C

Fire teams returned to the site twice in the night and once in the morning to inspect the scene for hotspots and ensure it is safe.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service faced the most calls to fires in its history on Tuesday.

As the highest temperatures since records began were recorded in Reading, firefighters attended to two wildfires in four days.

RBFS attended a fire that had spread from a bin to hedges in Dunt Lane Hurst, providing emergency care to one casualty on Tuesday.

On Monday, crews were in Pinebeams, Maidenhead, extinguishing two sheds and a garden fence which caught alight.