A TEENAGER has been hailed the hero of the hour for rescuing his two sleeping brothers from a house fire in Brixham.

The seven members of the Waugh family escaped from their 400-year-old Brixham home as a severe fire destroyed a bedroom.

Aaron, 15, dragged his brothers Jed, four, and Noah, three, from their bed as other members of the family and their pets fled the fire and smoke on Sunday evening.

The alert was raised by his sister, 21-year-old Scarlet, just as fire alarms began to sound at the home at the junction of Upper Manor Road and St Mary's Road, Brixham.

Dad Gerald said: "We were very lucky Scarlet was upstairs having a shower. When she came out the house was full of black smoke."

Mr Waugh had been sitting at the far end of the house, two converted Grade II listed cottages, with other members of the family.

He said: "We heard some popping sounds and I thought it was somebody outside throwing things at the house, and I went outside, but could see nothing so I started to water the garden."

He said they now realise the sound may have been the electrical circuit breakers operating.

"Aaron was the hero in this. He ran upstairs and got Jed and Noah who had been in bed for more than an hour. He woke them and dragged them out.

"Smoke had started to come into their room.

"If we had all been sitting downstairs then we would not have known what was going on and I am sure the boys could have died before the fire alarms sounded."

Mr Waugh and his wife Ellie got their other daughter, Florence, 19, who has severe autism, out of the house, along with their golden retrievers, Oscar and Louie.

They tried to call the fire brigade but the phone was not working and holidaymakers on their way back to a nearby holiday park had to loan them a mobile so they could call 999.

"I have no idea who they were but we owe them so much," said Mr Waugh.

Mrs Waugh said: "The police and fire brigade have been absolutely marvellous. The police officer got us accommodated at the Premier Inn on the Quay, and they did not charge us.

"Three of the children have lost everything that was in their bedrooms.

"Florence has lost her bed, all her clothes and her Winnie the Pooh toys. She is mad about Winnie the Pooh and is sad to lose them. We are trying to replace some of them. Scarlet has also lost all her clothes.

"Aaron, who is a member of Torquay Cricket Club, has lost all his gear and he was due to play a match on Monday night.

"Gerald has a tumour and is due to go in to hospital for chemotherapy and we have been told he has a only 50:50 chance of pulling through so this fire is something we could really do without.

"The firemen have been absolutely fantastic. I am sure if they had not turned up as quickly as they did we would have lost the whole house.

"They also saved our two hamsters, Shakespeare and Matilda."

The five-bedroom house with half an acre of garden was on the market for £325,000 and the family were due to have a viewing on Thursday.

The fire has severely damaged Scarlet and Florence's room, as well as Aaron's, and a bathroom.

Mr Waugh said: "We have no idea how much damage has been caused. One thing is for certain, the house is not worth the asking price as it is now."

The fire service were alerted just after 8pm on Sunday.

Two crews from the town attended along with two from Paignton with an incident command vehicle and a support appliance from Totnes.

Brixham Watch Commander Martin Timblin said: "All credit goes towards Aaron. There was smoke in the house and it was a commendable thing to do.

"There were flames coming out of the bedroom window and smoke was starting to come out of other windows.

"Once inside we managed to contain the fire and stopped it going into the roof.

"This incident shows just how valuable working smoke alarms are."

The firefighters found the two hamsters alive in the kitchen. They are being looked after by crew member Paul Hughes for a few days.

Paignton Watch Manager Steve Anderson, who attended the incident, said: "The cause of the fire is not known yet but it is not thought to be suspicious.

"There were fire alarms in the property and these sounded but the occupiers were alerted by popping noises, which could have been the fuse box going and one of the family coming downstairs to say the bedroom was on fire."

"As far as we are aware it is nothing to do with the children."

The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental.