Lucky escape for family in blaze

A couple with two children were woken when a rear window of their terraced home in Thorn Street, Preston blew out with the heat.

Firefighters say the man fought the blaze with water as the woman and children fled from the property.

“By the time we got there the man had managed to extinguish the fire by himself,” said crew manager Matt Pendlebury,

“It is not something we recommend as with heat and smoke you can soon find yourself in trouble.

“Our advice would be to shut the door, get out of the house as quickly as you can and call us out.”

The fire broke out at around 2am today. The cause is currently under investigation.

It is understood the house in Ribbleton did not have a working smoke alarm.

Crew manager Pendlebury added: “They have been very lucky to get out of that.

“One of them heard a window go out at the rear and woke the rest of the family.

“When we arrived the fire was out. But we used a camra to check for any hotspots.

“The bathroom was quite badly damaged. We don’t know at this stage what caused the fire, that is something we are trying to determine.

“Fortunately the bathroom door had been closed and that held the fire back from the rest of the house.

“It is important to make sure doors are closed when you go to bed at night. If that one had been ajar then the fire could have spread to the rest of the house very quickly.”