Eyewitnesses have paid tribute to the community spirit shown after residents helped to put out a fire on the roof of a Worcester Park bungalow last week.
Neighbours in Park Dale Crescent kept hoses aimed at the roof until Epsom and Esher fire teams arrived after 5pm on Tuesday, August 11, and fought the fire for two-and-a-half hours.
Crews stripped tiles from the roof after the blaze, thought to have been caused while refurbishment work was carried out on the house. No one was injured.
A neighbour said: "I could see these jets of water, and I saw all these neighbours with hoses. I later spoke with one who told me she was ironing when she smelt smoke.
"After seeing it at the end of her garden she ran out and kept her hose on the roof until the fire brigade arrived."
Epsom and Esher fire appliances are currently in attendance at a bungalow roof fire in Worcester Park
— Surrey Fire & Rescue (@SurreyFRS) August 11, 2015
Although praising the neighbours’ selflessness, the resident said she was not surprised at their actions, given the strong community bond.
She said: "I’m not surprised people dropped what they were doing to help out - it’s just that sort of place.
"It’s a great place to live - this is a very friendly place where people look out for each other."
She continued: "Even though the fire brigade were very quick to turn up, it was vital the neighbours did what they did.
"It’s like first aid - it would have been much worse if no-one had done something immediately."
A spokesman from Epsom Fire Station said: "All the neighbours were outside their houses and there was smoke billowing from the roof."
He said two firefighters wearing specialist oxygen equipment were sent in and the fire was under control in about 15 minutes.
He said: "Getting to work and putting it out was done and dusted within about 15 minutes. It was the auxiliary stuff afterwards, removing the tiles, that took longer. We were there for about two hours.
"About a quarter of the roof had to be stripped off."
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