Crews from Leyland and Bamber Bridge rushed to the Ryan Close upstairs flat in Leyland and arrived to the smell of burning and smoke billowing from a kitchen window.
Fire service members then forced their way into the building, awaking the owner from his slumber at around 11.40pm last night.
A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue said: “The occupier had left a pan of oil on the hob, leaving it unattended before falling asleep. This caused the pan to overheat causing the flat to fill with smoke. Luckily because he had a working smoke alarm this alerted neighbours into calling the fire service.
“Fire service Vented the flat to clear smoke the only damage was heat damage to the actually frying pan.”