Bognor family '˜extremely lucky' to escape fire

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, December 14, crews were called to a house fire in Newtown Avenue, reporting that all people were accounted for and had evacuated the building.

Crews found smoke issuing from the ground floor due to a fire underneath the staircase, involving the electrical consumer unit, which was completely destroyed, the fire service said.

Fortunately, the family woke up in the early stages of the fire and crews arrived promptly to extinguish the fire, wearing breathing apparatus before it spread.

Watch Manager Jon Etherington said: “The family were extremely lucky that they woke up and discovered the developing fire underneath the staircase as they didn’t have a working smoke alarm in the property.

“If they had not have woken up it could have had a very different outcome.”