Elderly residents were helped to safety by a milkman early today after fire broke out at a nursing home.
Their rescuer saw smoke belching from Greenfinches nursing home in Lower Willingdon, Eastbourne.
He and the staff member on duty ushered the pensioners downstairs before an eight-man team from Eastbourne fire station arrived at 2.15am.
Firefighters spent almost two hours at the scene of the fire, caused by a faulty extractor fan.
Flames spread to the plastic casing, sending acrid smoke into the floor below.
Sub officer Steve Whittlesey said: "The first floor was quite heavily smoke-logged but thanks to the smoke alarm being in good working order and the efforts of the milkman, nothing more serious came of it."
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