A vigilant neighbour grabbed his garden hose and began tackling a blaze after a firework shot into next door’s garden and set the house alight.

The house in Ivyhouse Road, Dagenham, was “completely gutted” by the fire, which took place during the fire brigade strikes on Saturday, November 1.

Next door neighbour Lee Pyne said: “I was in my front room and we heard a boom in the garden.

“My girlfriend started screaming: ‘The garden’s on fire’.

“I opened the door and really high flames came flying through straight away. I could feel the heat of it immediately.”

In the meantime Lee and his neighbour grabbed a garden hose and began tackling the blaze.

“It definitely could have spread if we hadn’t,” he told the Post.

“We fought the fire until the brigade arrived. If they’d got here quicker they could have stopped the house being ruined. It was terrifying,”

He said it was about half an hour before contingency crews turned up – part of the team on hand to attend fires during industrial action.

Marlene Grant, who also lives next door and whose house is attached to the burnt-out building, said: “We rushed out of our house and didn’t take anything with us because we heard there were gas cylinders that could explode at any moment.

“We rang the fire brigade but they were on strike so nobody came. We saw it grow and spread and kept calling them. A back up team arrived 30 minutes later.

“It swept through the house and completely gutted it.

“I was petrified – it’s still affecting me now. After it happened we could hear things collapsing in there.”

A woman in her 70s and her husband in his 60s are believed to live in the house, though the husband is thought to have been in hospital.

The woman arrived home during the fire “in a state of shock” and has been staying with her son since.

“They’ve lost absolutely everything – things that were irreplaceable,” said Marlene.

“I feel so bad for them.

“They’re neighbours from heaven – they don’t deserve this.”

The fire brigade went on its 47th strike over pension reforms between Friday, October 31 and Tuesday, November 4.

A spokesman said two contingency fire engines were sent to the fire.

He added the house eventually suffered 75 per cent damage.

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