Residents grabbed a garden hose and a jet wash in a desperate battle to stop a fire in a garage block from spreading to their homes.
Neighbours on Elm Road and Fir Road in Thetford worked together to help put out the 8ft-high flames, which were only metres from their homes and believed to have been arson.
The fire was spotted by the nearby residents at about 7-7.30pm, on Monday, January 6, with 6-8ft flames coming from the top of a garage unit.
Jurate Stevens, 55, of Elm Road, said she was "very afraid" when she discovered the fire and ran outside with her garden hose to try and stop the flames reaching her garden.
Mrs Stevens said: "I was very afraid because it was so close to the fence. I got my hose from the garden and tried spraying it over the fence.
"I was scared the fire would jump over to our side because of the trees.
"There is a hole at the back of that garage, and I think someone set something on fire and put it in the hole and then the whole thing went up with all the rubbish inside."
Norfolk Police are appealing for witnesses after two people were seen fleeing the area around the time the fire started.
MORE: Garage block set on fire in arson attack
Another neighbour said he was certain it was deliberate after watching home CCTV footage of the suspects before the incident took place.
The neighbour said: "There were two people in a gap between the garages for five minutes playing with something that looked like fire. There were two distinct images of fire.
"Within five minutes of that was when I opened my window and heard the blaze. It was definitely deliberate."
The garden of Angela Melahdo and Clive Bamberger, at Fir Road, also backed onto the burning garage and they said they felt lucky because it could have been a lot worse.
Ms Melahdo said: "We looked outside and saw a 6-8ft blaze out of the roof of the shed.
"We panicked because one of our other neighbour's sheds nearby has gas canisters inside and there is a hole in the back of that garage which had flames shooting out.
"But luckily another neighbour got his jet wash spray out as well before the fire engines turned up. We were all just trying to protect our properties."
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