A SIX-year-old Poulton boy is being hailed a hero after helping to save his mum and sister in a house fire.

Mum Clare Hodinott this week told The Citizen how little Jack calmly talked her through what to do when a blaze began in the lounge of their Garstang Road East home.

An oil burner is thought to have started the fire at around 10.30pm on Sunday (November 18). The fire set off a smoke detector and as Jack and little sister Abigail, 3, slept, Clare went to investigate.

"I wondered why it had gone off and I went downstairs and smelled the smoke, so I went back to get the children out," she said.

"Jack told me I had to touch the door and if it was hot not to open it and he told us to keep down to the floor because of the smoke and then we got out. He said we had to go and phone the fire brigade so we ran up to the call box.

"I'm very proud of him because he is only six. He was quite upset afterwards but at the time he was the calmest out of the three of us."

She said Jack knew what to do because he remembered what he had been told by firefighters who had visited his school. "I'm glad what the fire brigade have been teaching him has sunk in," she said.

But Jack is very shy about his new-found status, Clare said. The Poulton St John's primary pupil simply nodded and said he did not want to talk about it.

Two fire crews from Blackpool attended on Sunday using breathing apparatus and a hose reel to put the fire out. The blaze gutted the lounge and caused smoke damage to the rest of the house.

Blackpool Fire Station Officer Paul Parton praised Jack for his quick-thinking. "Jack had recently had a visit at school by firefighters who tell the children all about the danger of fire and what to do if a fire occurs. He used this knowledge correctly to help his mum and sister make a safe escape."

He added: "Although the lounge was quite badly damaged, events could easily have been a lot more serious but for a number of things. Fire crews arrived quickly, the house was fitted with a smoke detector and it worked and alerted Jack's mum to the fire. The family got out of the house, stayed out and called the fire service out."

And he warned other homeowners to take care not to leave candles burning unattended.