A Slindon family escaped to safety last night (3/10/2001)after they were alerted to a fire in their garage by their dog.

West Sussex Fire Brigade received multiple calls to the property at Church Hill, Slindon at approximately 04:28hrs.

Two fire appliances from Arundel and Chichester were immediately mobilised to the incident but due to the number of calls being received, a third appliance was also ordered from Bognor.

Upon arrival, the Officer in Charge of the Chichester appliance found the domestic garage adjoining the property was well alight.

Crews were immediately deployed to fight the fire and to stop it breaking through into the house. This operation was successful and the damage was confined to the garage. Unfortunately though, the garage, the vehicle inside it and other contents were all severely damaged by the fire.

At the height of the fire, four crews wearing breathing apparatus used two jets and hose reels to fight the fire. At one point operations were hampered by a fractured gas main and the gas board attended the incident to deal with this.

The family dog alerted the occupants to the fire meaning that they were able to evacuate the property, however smoke alarms were also fitted in the property and had the dog not alerted the family to the fire, the alarms would have activated and would giving them time to escape.

A Fire Investigation Officer attended the incident and the cause of the fire is now being investigated.