A 90-YEAR-OLD woman was carried to safety by her grandson as a fire engulfed her bedroom.

Elsa Hunt was sleeping in the home she shares with her family when a boiler is believed to have exploded in the garage below.

Flames quickly ripped through the Henfield property and Mrs Hunt awoke to grandson Fergus, 18, rescuing her, after he tried in vain to battle the blaze with a fire extinguisher at 2am yesterday.

Following the ordeal his brother Rowan Murphy- Hunt, 17, told The Argus the family of five were “lucky to be alive.”

He, his brother, grandmother and parents Heidi and Phil, fled their Martyn Close home to take shelter in the garden as some 20 firefighters rushed to their aid. No-one was hurt.

Rowan said: “It was quite scary. Fergus had just locked up when it happened. He tried to put it out but realised the flames were too big and ran upstairs to tell us all to get out before going to help our gran. All the smoke alarms were going off.

“Our neighbours were very kind and took us in for the night. We think the boiler exploded and there was a loud bang when the quad bike tyres burst in the fire. You could see the flames coming up through the house and through the door.”

The home suffered severe damage and is not yet clear whether the family will be able to move back.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, which called in crews from East Sussex to assist with the incident, said it was still trying to determine the cause.

Neighbour Edwin Volance was woken up by his wife after a neighbour banged on their door urging them to get out of their house.

He said their adjoining house was black with smoke afterwards and smelt of fire.

Malcolm Harrington, owner of nearby bed and breakfast No 1 The Laurels, thought the explosion was a firework display finale running into the early hours of the morning.

As The Argus attended the scene yesterday afternoon even more of the building collapsed.

Yesterday the family were hunting for accommodation in Crawley.