Lucky to be alive

The fire, caused by an electrical fault, broke out in a cupboard. Luckily, they heard a bang, went to investigate and saw smoke pouring out of the cupboard door and dialled 999.

When two engines from Lancing fire station arrived on Friday night, the ground-floor flat at The Haven in Brighton Road was smoke-logged but the couple had managed to escape. Firefighters evacuated the remaining three floors of flats, with about 10 people being asked to leave their homes.

Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze, which caused considerable smoke damage to the flat. The couple, who suffered shock but were unhurt, had to stay with neighbours.

Station commander Terry Beck said: "It appears the battery had been removed from the smoke alarm so the couple were lucky to get out. Some people do this because they need the batteries for something else or the alarm goes off when they burn the toast or from cooking.

"We want to remind people not to take the batteries out of smoke detectors because it renders them useless.

"People should also check them regularly to see if the batteries are working, especially with Christmas coming up."