A grateful dad has praised two off-duty firefighters who saved his home from being destroyed – using a borrowed ladder, garden hose and hand extinguishers.

The pair sprang into action when the Plews family were forced to flee their smoke-filled house in Aylesham after a fire broke out in a bedroom.

Now Keith Plews and his wife Adina say they owe the father and son firefighters, Paul and Steven Dennis, a debt of gratitude for their quick-thinking and actions.

“They are great lads. I am sure that if they hadn’t worked so hard to minimise the damage, we would probably have lost the roof,” said the 58-year-old catering equipment engineer.

"We can’t thank them enough.

“We are just relieved we are all safe. If it had happened when we were out, we would have lost our animals and if we had been asleep, we may not be here now.”

Video: The house fire victim thanks firefighters

The drama unfolded at about 8pm on Sunday night when the couple’s 10-year-old daughter Gyneth raised the alarm.

She had been watching television in the couple’s bedroom when she dashed downstairs to tell her dad there was a fire in a cupboard.

Mr Plews said: “I was in the bath at the time so had to get out sharpish.

"I could see and smell smoke on the stairs.

"At first I tried to tackle the fire with our own extinguisher but it was clearly having little effect so it was a case of getting everyone out, including the dogs and cats straight away and calling 999.”

Steven Dennis, a firefighter at the Channel Tunnel, happened to be visiting a shop opposite the house in Cornwallis Avenue, Aylesham, and saw the distressed family outside the property where smoke was pouring from an upstairs window.

He quickly called his father Paul, who also works at the Tunnel and lives nearby, and the pair decided to tackle the fire because Aylesham’s own retained station was not on call at the time.

Paul said: “Once we quickly established that everyone was out of the property, it was a case of whether we could contain the fire which had got quite a hold, until a crew arrived.

“The owner had a ladder and garden hose so I was able to get up to the bedroom window and get some water on the flames.

“But the water pressure wasn’t great and not having too much effect.

"Fortunately, several shops provided extinguishers so we got through a few of those, which helped to contain it.

“Our fear was that it could get into the roof, causing major damage and possibly spread through the void to the adjoining properties.”

Paul and Steven tackled the blaze for about 15 minutes until a crew from Wingham arrived, followed by Canterbury firefighters, who went into the property wearing breathing masks to finish the job.

The most severe damage was contained to the bedroom because the couple had the presence of mind to close the internal doors before fleeing the house.

But all the family’s clothing and some furnishings and personal belongings have been lost to smoke and water damage.

It is thought the fire was caused by an electrical fault in an airing cupboard.

Now a JustGiving page has been set up by a family friend to raise £2,000 for the family to get them through Christmas, with more than half already raised.

Adina, 39, runs the adjacent Jam and Roses cake and tea shop and has been flooded with messages of support from neighbours and friends.

The shop was closed this week as she and the family attempted to get themselves back on their feet.

Mr Plews said: “We have been left with just the clothes we are wearing and our bedroom is completely destroyed.

“But we have been overwhelmed by everyone’s kindness and support. I have lived in Aylesham all my life and thought the village spirit had gone, but clearly not.

“It is going to take some months to get the house straight again and we have had to move into rented accommodation.

"It’s not really what we needed coming up to Christmas but we have close family and friends.

“We also plan to hold a party at the tea shop when we are back on our feet to thank everyone who has supported us.”