A young lad came to the rescue after fire broke out at the family home.

The boy is understood to have been playing computer games when he smelt smoke, found flames in an upstairs room and dashed to raise the alarm with the rest of the family after the electrical fire started in King Edward Road, Greenhithe at 7.20pm last night.

But the family's hamsters died and a bearded dragon had to be given oxygen after smoke poured through the property.

Four fire engines were called. Crews, wearing breathing apparatus, extinguished the flames using hose jets.

They then gave first aid to two adults who had inhaled smoke and provided oxygen to a bearded dragon and the two hamsters using a specialist animal mask.

Amy Searle, who lives a few doors down, told how one of the family's young son smelt smoke and ran to alert the others.

She said: "Their little boy was playing on the Playstation and he smelt smoke. He went out and saw flames in his sister's bedroom. He ran over and tried to shut the door but it was too hot.

"He was so brave. If it was not for him, who knows what could have happened or if it would have been later at night when everyone was asleep.

"They have salvaged most of the stuff from downstairs. There is a lot of smoke damage. It went up so quick.

"I said to them 'everything can be replaced but you cannot'. The mum was just watching it go up like 'this is my house'."

She confirmed all the family are fine and the daughter was not in her room at the time.

The blaze was out by 9.30pm and Kent Fire & Rescue Service's volunteer response team was on-hand to provide support and advice to anyone who needed it.

Neighbour Karen Crane was alerted to the fire after hearing sirens. She said: "I saw all the blue lights and went outside. It was awful, there was a lot of smoke. It was quite bad.

"It was a bit scary to see."

Karen said that the nextdoor neighbour was evacuated from their home to ensure there was no damage to their house.

It is believed the first floor fire was started accidentally by an electrical fault.

Following the incident, crews issued a safety warning reminding the public to use electricity safely.

You can help to reduce the risk of a fire by checking sockets are not overloaded, having any damaged cables replaced by a qualified electrician and ensuring white goods, such as dishwashers and tumble dryers, are not left running at night or when leaving the house.

Another top tip is to register electrical appliances, so you are notified of any recalls.