Fire chiefs today paid tribute to Alex Kent, the Sussex firefighter who died after heroically trying to rescue his brother from their blazing home.

Mr Kent, 25, was off duty when the blaze broke out this morning at the house in Fermor Way, Crowborough. He died trying to save brother Phil, 23.

The chief fire officer of East Sussex said Mr Kent had upheld the tradition of the fire service by risking his life to help others.

Mr Kent, who joined the brigade in November 2001 and was stationed at Crowborough, first alerted his parents, Richard and Janet, to the blaze, thought to have started in the lounge of the detached house.

After leading them to safety he went back into the burning house to try to pull his brother from the flames.

Chief Fire Officer Des Prichard said materials in the house spontaneously exploded in the intense heat. The brothers are thought to have been caught in a fireball which tore through the house.

Mr Kent was found in a rear upstairs bedroom at the house by firefighters from his own station.

Outside they tried desperately to revive him while another crew wearing found his brother trapped under the rubble of the collapsed roof.

Both men were taken to the Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells but died of their injuries.

Their mother Janet was treated for an injured ankle but both she and her husband escaped serious injury.

They were said to be deeply traumatised. Mr Prichard said: "I have served for 26 years and this is one of the most severe property fires I have seen.

"We believe that Alex upheld the best traditions of the British fire service and sadly lost his life in an attempt to save others."

Mr Kent is the first firefighter to be killed in Sussex for 25 years. The last died in a car crash.

Four other firefighters were injured in today's blaze. Trevor Funnell, Peter Thorogood and Kim Sawyer suffered burns and were released from hospital early this morning.

Leading Firefighter John Haizelden, who climbed a ladder in the hope of rescuing someone from the rear bedroom, was treated for the effects of smoke and later released.

Mr Kent's station officer, Julie King, said he would be sorely missed despite only having been based there ten months.

She said: "I have never lost an officer before. I feel distraught. But we will continue to provide the service we are trained for."

A Press conference was told that this was Mr Kent's second attempted rescue while off duty.

On March 19 last year he gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a 91-year-old crash victim on the A22 near Uckfield, keeping him alive until paramedics took over.

Sadly the man later died from his injuries.