Man taken to hospital after house fire in St Frances Close

A man believed to be in his forties, known locally as Mohammed, was taken to hospital after the incident on St Frances Close, Blackburn at 5.53am.

Neighbour David Gleave had just gone to the bathroom when he heard noises outside his adjoining property.

He said: "I had just gone to brush my teeth and when I went back to the bedroom my wife was talking out the window to our neighbour Mohammed.

"He said that his house was on fire and she asked him if he had rang the fire brigade and he said no.

"I got to the end of our drive and it looked like a pit of hell through the front window and it was an inferno.

"It looked like it had been going for quite a while."

"I rang the fire brigade and the smoke was coming into our house.

"I got in my car with our dogs and went onto the neighbours drive so our car did not get damaged."

The two crews from Blackburn arrived at the scene and took an hour and a half to put out the fire.

Mr Gleave praised the firefighters for their quick response.

He said: "It must have been five or 10 minutes and they were here putting it out.

"They were great and showed us a lot of empathy.

"I was worried that the fire would come through our walls as the plasterboard in the house next door was so badly damaged.

"But they said it was also not in the roof and they used fans to clear the smoke.

"It was all a bit of a panic but it has all been put out."

A spokesman for the Lancashire Fire Service said: "We got a call at around 6am this morning and when we got there the fire was well developed on the ground floor.

"A man was outside, suffering the effects of breathing smoke and was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

"Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus used a hosereel jet to put out the fire.

"An investigation has been launched with police this morning and the fire is to be established."