Neighbours describe 'scary, scary' Crawley fire that 'seriously damaged' multiple homes

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service were alerted to a ‘fire involving four properties’ at Ash Keys at 2.41pm on Monday, August 3 but in an update two hours later, they said the blaze had spread to more properties. Nobody was hurt.

And Najeeb Wazir lives in one of those homes with his wife and two children, aged 13 and three months. His garden was destroyed and the rear windows and door of his house have gone.

“I saw the fire and I don't know what it was,” he said. “Then the emergency services arrived and told me I had to leave the house. I was trying to get stuff out but they wouldn’t allow me to.”

He added: “It was a scary, scary experience, like hell.”

Mr Wazir also praised the fire service. “They did a great job.”

That view was echoed by Val Macdonald, whose house was unaffected by the fire. “To begin with, all I heard was banging and I just thought, ‘oh, there's builders somewhere’, or I'd left the window open,” she said. “It wasn't until I saw everyone in the street, I thought I had better go and see what's going on. And as I looked out here, you could see the fence was on fire.

“The services were very good, they said either leave your house or stay indoors and I stayed inside.

“It went up so quickly, it’s so scary. But I just feel so sorry for the families who have lost their homes. You can replace carpets but you can’t replace memories.”

The fire was believed to be started by a barbecue.

A West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We would like to use this opportunity to remind people that the Fire Severity Index, which measures how severe a fire would be if one were to break out, remains very high in West Sussex due to the prolonged warm, dry weather.

“We are encouraging people to avoid using disposable barbecues and having bonfires in outdoor spaces, pick up litter if you see it, extinguish smoking materials properly, and to report any signs of fire immediately by calling 999.”