Heroic Littlehampton teen saves neighbours after fire erupts between their homes

The quick thinking of Josh Bruford, 13, prevented a tragedy when the car port between his house and his neighbours’ bungalow in White Horses Way caught alight on Tuesday, July 9.

His father Graham said: “Obviously I’m very proud of him as his dad. He has done the responsible thing and got out, gone to the neighbours, who weren’t aware there was a fire and helped get them out.

“He is a good lad.”

Josh was sat in his bedroom when he heard the smoke alarm going off.

He went downstairs to see what was going on and discovered that smoke was seeping in under the kitchen door.

With his mother Jill out for the afternoon and his father at work, Josh went outside to figure out what was going on – and first spotted the fire, which had spread to his neighbours’ fence.

He called his mother, who rushed home, and then called the fire brigade, who arrived at the scene by 5.20pm with five fire engines.

Worried for his elderly neighbours, he knocked on their door and managed to get them out. By this time, other residents nearby came out to help save valuable possessions from the couple’s bungalow before they were consumed by smoke.

While no-one was hurt, the fire caused serious damage.

Both the Bruford’s house and the bungalow next door are uninhabitable, with doors and windows boarded up, rooms full of smoke damage and the bungalow roof damaged by fire. Graham and his family are staying with friends and said the repairs may take six months.

Graham said: “The fire brigade said that if it had been 10 minutes more, we would have lost all of our house.”

The current cause of the fire is unknown, Graham said, adding that the fire service was ‘absolutely brilliant’. He thanked the Red Cross, who also helped at the scene.