'Brave' teens praised for saving homes from fire

The boys had been playing football during the summer holidays when they saw smoke

A group of teenagers who helped save homes from a blaze have been praised by firefighters for their "brave" actions.

The friends had been playing football in North Leverton with Habblesthorpe, Nottinghamshire, on Sunday afternoon when they spotted smoke.

The seven boys, aged between 14 and 17, found flames licking the roof of a house in Mill Close and residents struggling to stop them spreading, so they joined in to help.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire would have spread further without their actions, but also urged the public not to put themselves at risk in similar situations.

The flames from a hedge had started to spread to a nearby property

Julie Ball, 60, said her house would have been set alight without them.

"It burnt so fast and so ferociously," she said. "It was scary.

"We weren't able to get it under control ourselves, so it was so nice to see these young fit lads turn up.

"They stopped it before it got to my house.

"Further down the hedge is my oil tank and that could have been dreadful."

She said they were able to run around filling up buckets from taps and ponds, using their shirts to protect themselves from smoke.

This meant they had the blaze in the hedge mostly put out by the time the fire service arrived.

"You see a lot of negativity about young lads on social media," she added. "But this just shows they can be, and often are, very helpful."

The boys used their shirts as masks

Liam, 15, said: "It looked like it was getting out of hand and it was easier for us to do it because we're young.

"We'd rather us do it than old people. I feel proud and brave, and relieved we put it out."

Ryan, 15, added: "It was absolutely boiling, and quite scary, but when there's a house at risk you've got to do what you can do.

"We all knew how to work around each other. We're always all together so there's a good bond there."

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said the cause of the fire was accidental.

Station manager for Retford and Edwinstowe, Matt Nash, added: "We would like to pass on our huge thank you to the teenagers who helped tackle this fire before the arrival of our crews.

"It goes without saying that without this brave action, the fire would have spread a lot further than it did.

"However, while we commend their courage, we strongly advise members of the public not to put themselves at risk in such situations - always call 999 immediately."

The fire service has been called out to more than 2,700 incidents from June up to 11 August, an increase on the same period in 2024, when it was called out 2,320 times.

A spokesperson added this was not solely down to weather conditions as they were not all outdoor fires.

The outside of Mrs Ball's neighbour's property was damaged, but she believes it could have been worse