A HERO neighbour alerted a family to a fire which ripped through the garage at their Chirk home.

But despite his quick thinking, the blaze, in North View, still destroyed thousands of pounds worth of goods stored inside, including Christmas presents.

Mike Nash, 65, was watching TV at his home with 21-year-old grandson Ben Davies around 1am yesterday when he went upstairs and saw the sky lit up by flames.

Looking outside, he realised his neighbours’ garage was on fire.

He shouted to Ben to call the fire service while he dashed next door to raise the alarm with Julie and Paul Jacobs.

Firefighters from Chirk and Llangollen attended the scene and quickly brought the fire under control. They left the scene just before 3.30am.

Mr Nash said: “I had been watching a film and just nipped upstairs. I happened to look out of the window and saw the sky lit up with an orange glow.

“I looked outside and was shocked to see flames coming out of the neighbours’ garage.

“I shouted to Ben to ring 999 while I went next door and knocked to tell Julie and Paul what was happening.

“By this time there was thick black smoke coming out of the garage and flames leaping up into the air.

“Paul started to tackle it with a garden hose but the fire was burning inside the garage and it was obviously too much for him to handle.”

He added: “It’s a good job I was still up at that time and saw what was happening.

“I was just glad to help.”

Julie Jacobs said: “We are very grateful for what Mike did, coming to tell us about the fire and also calling the fire brigade.

“The entire contents of the garage have been destroyed, including lots of garden equipment such as lawnmowers and strimmers, the freezer and its contents and the Christmas presents we had bought early and were keeping in there.

“It looks like we’ve lost thousands of pounds worth of stuff, but it could have been much worse if the fire had spread from the garage to the pergola and then on to the extension at the back of the house.

“Another good thing is that nobody was injured.

“I’d also like to thank the lads from the fire brigade who were absolutely brilliant.”

A spokeswoman for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze had probably been caused by an electrical fault.