FIREFIGHTERS in East Lancashire have shown they are hot stuff by winning a place in the national finals of a prestigious competition.

Blue Watch at Blackburn fire station were the only team in the county to compete in this year's British National Extraction Challenge and may go on to the world finals.

The annual event involves crews of five racing against time to free a victim from a simulated road accident.

Firefighters must treat the set up as a real situation and observe all safety precautions as though the victim's life depended on it.

They have 20 minutes to free the victim and make the scene safe.

In their first year entering the competition the Blackburn team beat five other teams from Greater Manchester and Cheshire to win the regional finals.

Station Officer Andy Barnes said: "The ultimate reason we are trying is it improves skills when we are in real incidents.

"It is not just about show. It has real benefits as we have people trapped in cars and we have learned things from the competitions which we can put into use in reality."

In August the Blackburn team go to the national finals in Nottingham to face 49 other teams where the top five will win the chance to compete in the world finals in September 2004.