A MOTHER had to throw her new-born baby from a first-floor window when fire broke out in a block of flats.

Children were sleeping in some of the homes as the attackers torched an electrical box on the ground floor of Manhattan Court in Tongdean Lane, Withdean, Brighton, on Monday night.

Residents were only alerted to the blaze when another flat owner in the building noticed it.

The 43-flat building was evacuated and the young mother had to throw her baby to the safe hands of the emergency services.

Dean Niner’s two-year-old daughter Daisy was asleep when fire broke out at about 9.40pm.

The 24-year-old said: “At about 5pm a big group of lads came to visit a flat and were causing disturbance with a lot of shouting going on.

“Then someone was banging on my door saying ‘there’s a fire, get out’ so I grabbed my daughter and we all ran outside.

“There weren’t any alarms going off when it happened.

“That was unbelievable.

“One woman had to throw her baby out of her window because firefighters couldn’t get to her.”

That was not the end of the drama.

Mr Niner, who is a kitchen assistant at nearby Maycroft Manor care home, stayed awake, worried something else was going to happen.

Hours later his fears came true when a second fire broke out.

Mr Niner said there was a bang on the door and it was a police officer saying there was another fire.

“We all thought we were going to die,” Mr Niner said.

“Everyone was really worried and panicking.”

He said troublemakers poured whiskey over one neighbour’s door and tried to kick in the door of another.

He said: “They set fire to a sofa in the communal area and there were still no alarms going off.

“They need to be put in as soon as possible. It’s putting us at risk.

“Luckily, someone noticed the first fire.”

Four people were rescued by firefighters during the second fire at 12.34am on Tuesday and Mr Niner praised their work.

The mother who had to throw her baby to safety was still too traumatised to talk when The Argus visited Manhattan Court yesterday, but confirmed what had happened.

There was a police car parked outside and the smell of smoke still strong in the air inside the building.

Shelley Bridgwater’s husband Terry was the man who noticed the first fire.

He had found a knife outside a flat after hearing a commotion and then smelt smoke on the way back to his home.

Mrs Bridgwater, 55, said: “There was a disturbance in the afternoon, with about 15 people turning up in cars, zooming around the car park.

“Then there was a lot of noise inside and Terry went in pursuit.

“All of a sudden, he was saying ‘you need to get out’.

“I thought someone was cooking something at first, but the staircase was filled with smoke.

“We are in such shock.

“I just feel an overwhelming urge to cry.”

Mrs Bridgwater was astonished there were no smoke alarms anywhere near where the fires happened.

She believes residents’ lives could be at risk.

She said: “I have lived here for nine years and nothing like this has happened before.

“It’s ridiculous that there are no fire alarms – there absolutely needs to be some put in the communal areas now.

“It does make you think ‘what if’.

“I hope something positive will come out of this.”

Simon Curling, director of Manhattan Court Management, which owns the site, admitted there were no smoke alarms on the side where the fires were.

He has owned the site for the past 23 years.

Mr Curling told The Argus: “There are fire alarms in certain parts of the building, but not the whole of the building.

“We are asking our fire adviser to have a complete review of the building.

“They are not there because the building has fire precautions.

“There is no specific requirement to have that kind of fire alarm.

“We are having our fire officers carry out a review and we will implement whatever recommendations they make.”

He added that the building had last been inspected in 2014.

An East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service statement said: “On May 7 at 9.44pm, Brighton firefighters attended a fire in a residential property on Tongdean Lane, Brighton.

“The fire had emanated from a cupboard containing electric meters and fuse boards.

“Crews used two breathing apparatus and CO2 to extinguish the fire.

“On May 8 at 12.34am, crews from Hove and Brighton attended a fire at a residential property on Tongdean Lane, Brighton.

“Crews used four breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets and a positive pressure ventilation fan to extinguish the fire.

“Crews rescued four residents from the property.”

Emergency services are treating it as an arson attack.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: “Police are appealing for witnesses following a fire at Manhattan Court, Tongdean Lane, Brighton.

“Officers were alerted to the fire by East Sussex Fire and Rescue at around 10.30pm on Monday.

“The fire is being treated as arson.

Police urged anyone who witnessed any suspicious behaviour to report online at sussex.police.uk/contact-us/report-online or call 101 quoting 1415 of 07/05.

Witnesses can also report anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Its website is crimestoppers-uk.org.