David Clarke, Glyn Smith and partner Gail Southgate raised the alarm and battled with the flames before firefighters arrived but they were unable to save the life of 72-year-old Ho Simpson when her caravan caught fire at the Trentside Caravan Park, in Beeston Rylands, in the early hours of April 15 2009.
An inquest at Nottingham Coroners' Court heard that Mr Clarke, of Beeston, awoke at about 3am to see embers falling from the bottom of his neighbour's caravan.
He ran to help but couldn't get inside so he used a garden hose on the fire, while Mr Smith called the fire brigade.
"Dave tried to open the door to the trailer and I shot round the back, because there was a big propane gas bottle, to try to turn that off," said Mr Smith, of Brinsley.
"My partner tried to hose underneath because there were cinders dropping down.
"Dave managed to spot her through the door. Because Dave was quite overcome by smoke and heat, I held the hose into the front room to try to keep it away until the fire brigade came."
Station manager David Stevenson, of Notts Fire and Rescue Service, said it was believed the blaze was started by a cigarette, which smouldered on the living room floor for hours before bursting into flames as Mrs Simpson slept in her bedroom.
Dr Chapman praised her neighbours for their attempts to save her life.
"The fire brigade turned out very rapidly but you still had seven minutes when you had a fire and the possibility of a gas explosion," he said.
"Clearly you have not been able to stop it. But I want to say publicly that you all did extremely well that night."
He recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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