A FAMILY, including a six-week-old baby, had a lucky escape after a blaze ripped through their home while they were sleeping.

Firefighters said the family ‘left it to chance’ because there was no smoke alarm in the terraced property.

The family of five was only awoken at around 2am yesterday when light bulbs began exploding in the heat.

Katie Ross, 22, was asleep downstairs with her daughters, Olivia-Leigh, two, and Ella-Mae, six weeks, when she was woken by the fire.

It caused major damage to the home in Darwin Street, Burnley, after starting in the bathroom. The family live there with Katie’s boyfriend David Picton, while his sister was also staying.

Firefighters said the blaze was so fierce that ‘it could have been fatal’.

She said: “I was asleep downstairs on the sofa with the two children also in the living room when it happened.

“David was woken up by a spotlight blowing up and then he saw the fire.

“His sister is staying here at the moment and their mum and dad live two doors down. We shouted them and they helped to try to put the fire out while I called the fire brigade..

“You could see the flames and it looked very bad.

“We had smoke alarms but they were battery-operated and the batteries had died, we had no idea until the fire started that they weren’t working.

“The fire service have now fitted ones that don’t need batteries.”

Both the children, David, and his dad, were taken to hospital as a precaution for smoke inhalation, but all were released a few hours later.

Fire crews spent around 45 minutes at the scene tackling the blaze, before fitting new alarms.

She said: “We have all had a lucky escape really. I often fall asleep downstairs but David usually takes the children up, but he didn’t this time, which is very lucky.

“Had they gone upstairs they would have breathed in a lot more smoke and children are a lot more susceptible to smoke inhalation.

“I’m not sure why they didn’t go upstairs this time but it is obviously one of those things that happens for a reason, we were very lucky.”

The clean-up operation had started yesterday. Fire crews said the blaze was possibly started by a discarded cigarette in the bathroom.

Katie said: “We need a new toilet and there is a lot of damage to the bathroom, the spotlights are all shattered and we had a plastic skylight-style window which completely melted away.

“The walls are very black as well, as are the walls at the top of the landing, so we need to try and repair them, but the main thing is that everybody is safe and well.”

Watch manager Neil Mark said the family was very lucky as the property had no working smoke detector and it was only the smell of smoke that woke them up.

He said: “It emphasises the importance of a smoke alarm.

“They left it to chance and they got away with it this time but it could quite easily have been a fatal fire.”

To get your free smoke alarm and fire safety check, call 0800 1691125.