East Sussex firefighters were today coming to terms with the death of a colleague who bravely tried to save his brother from his blazing home.

Alex Kent, based at Crowborough, had been in the brigade for only ten months.

Mr Kent, who was due to celebrate his 26th birthday on Monday, passed out as a fully-trained recruit on March 4 last year.

His colleagues who had to drag his body from yesterday's fire, along with his younger brother Phil.

They did not know whose house was on fire until they arrived.

Tributes have been paid by senior brigade officials and flowers laid outside the gutted house in Fermor Way, Crowborough.

East Sussex's Chief Fire Officer, Des Pritchard, said: "Clearly, everyone is very traumatised. He had many good friends at Crowborough fire station."

Mr Pritchard told how Mr Kent had, again while off-duty, recently helped resuscitate a man of 91 after a crash on the A22 near Uckfield.

Crowborough Station Officer Julie King said: "I have never lost an officer before. I feel distraught but we will continue to provide the service we are trained for."

Mr Kent, who lived nearby, had been sleeping downstairs at his parents' home in Fermor Way. He was woken by a smoke alarm, which had been triggered by a fire in the lounge.

He raced to rouse his parents, Richard and Janet, and led them to safety before going back for his 23-year-old brother, a golf shop manager who lived at the house.

Firefighters found the brothers lying in a first-floor rear bedroom. Phil, who had dialled 999, was trapped beneath rubble from the collapsed roof.

The brothers were pronounced dead in hospital.

Four fire crew members were injured as they battled the blaze and Mrs Kent suffered an ankle injury.

Neighbours described her as an active charity worker who raised funds for Macmillan Nurses at the monthly mini-market in Crowborough.

The couple have been married for 30 years and were being counselled by fire brigade chaplain Wayne Stillwell.

Mr Kent's colleagues are also being given support through a critical incident debriefing, given to firefighters following traumatic events.

Crowborough-based Leading Firefighter John Haizelden and firefighters Trevor Funnell, Peter Thorogood and Kim Sawyer were discharged from hospital by yesterday afternoon. They were treated for burns and the effects of smoke.

The house was gutted by the blaze, which began at 2.25am.

Scenes of crime officers, a Home Office forensic officer and the brigade's own fire officers concluded the fire was an accident but the exact cause has not been revealed.

A flash fire had torn through the house, setting ablaze all combustible material including curtains and carpets.