SIXTY-four year old Kenneth Turner was rescued from his home after waking to find his bed on fire.

After going downstairs and ringing for the fire service Mr Turner tried to fight the fire and was overcome by smoke.

Leading firefighter Alan Ashworth said: "He was perched on the end of the bed in the smoke-filled room and in a semi-recumbent position when we found him and carried him out.

"He was very lucky, a few more minutes and it could have been much worse."

The fire broke out in a bedroom of the house in Brunshaw Road, Burnley, at about 10.30pm on Saturday.

Mr Turner was wakened by the sound of the smoke alarm and woke to find the bed on fire and the room full of smoke. Leading firefighter Ashworth said: "It is a good job that he had a smoke detector. Really when he got out of the bedroom he should have shut the door and stayed out after calling us.

"But he went back to try to tackle it himself and was overcome by the smoke."

Mr Turner was given oxygen by firefighters before paramedics took over and then took him to hospital for treatment.

The fire is thought to have started by a fault on an electric blanket.

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