Nigel Bowles was on the scene within minutes of both Brighton’s piers catching fire – and his pictures have now been seen all over the globe.
When the Palace Pier caught fire in February, Bowles – chief photographer of Sussex-based news agency John Connor Press Associates – arrived at the same time as the fire brigade.
When the derelict West Pier turned into an inferno last week, he hitched a lift in a pal’s speedboat to beat the traffic.
Bowles said: “We got so close to the West Pier I could feel the heat from the flames and my pal was worried the fixtures on his boat might melt.
“I think the office was surprised when I rang them – they could hear the flames in the background.”
Pictures taken by Bowles and his colleague Steve Dennett, 24, who was on land, appeared in eight national newspapers.
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