Smoke alarm saves couple

Fred Dyson, 81 and his wife Margaret, 79, from Church Street, are devastated that their living room and its contents were destroyed by the fire, but feel so fortunate to have had a smoke alarm to warn them.

The fire is believed to have been started by an electric heat pad, thought to have been left switched on over-night.

At just after 5am, the couple heard the alarm sound and Fred rushed to see what was happening.

The living room door was closed but Fred could see smoke billowing out through the sides of the door and feel the intense heat of the fire in the room.

"The smoke was so thick and black that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face," he said. "I opened the front door to let some air in the house so we could breathe."

Fred shouted to Margaret to get out of the flat and he rushed outside to raise the alarm.

Both the couple's telephones were in the living room so they had no means of calling the fire brigade.

"I ran out onto the street and saw a young lad walking along," said Fred. "I asked if I could use his phone, but he didn't speak English.

"Eventually he understood what I meant and gave me his mobile.

"The fire brigade arrived very quickly."

Firefighters from Littlehampton tackled the fire and used fans to clear the smoke from the flat.

Littlehampton fire commander Trevor Worsfold said that the incident was further proof of how important it is to have a working smoke alarm in every home.

The living room at the couple's flat is completely black and charred. Everything in the room is ruined and there's smoke damage to the rest of the flat.

Fred and Margaret now face days of living with the smell of charred furniture and burnt carpet as insurers assess the damage and redecorating work is carried out.

"Everybody was very kind," said Margaret. "Offering to help us and put us up.

"We are very lucky. We could have died in our sleep from the smoke if we were heavy sleepers."