Man suffers burns to arms and face in a fire at his home

A 54-year-old man suffered burns to his arms and face in a fire at his home in Pullman Street, Deepish in the early hours of this morning.

The man was asleep upstairs unaware that clothing had fallen onto a heater at the end of his bed, starting a fire.

There was a smoke alarm in the hall - but it didn't sound because batteries had been taken out.

Fortunately, his 16-year-old son woke up smelling the smoke and heard the fire.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Crew Manager Carl Bostock said: "The 16-year-old ran downstairs shouting and alerted his brother. Their dad was asleep in the bedroom but there was thick black smoke and the whole room was on fire.

"They picked their dad up and got halfway downstairs but because the smoke was so thick they fell the rest of the way."

When crews from Rochdale arrived, the father and his two sons, aged 20 and 16, were outside. Two teams of firefighters wearing breathing apparatus in to locate the fire and extinguish it.

Another firefighter dealt with the 54-year-old outside until the ambulance arrived.

Crew Manager Bostock added: "There was thick smoke at the top of the house and once firefighters had put the fire out they spent around half an hour getting rid of the smoke and checking every room in the house to make sure everyone was out and safe.

"The man and his two sons had a lucky escape - but they could have had an earlier warning if their smoke alarm was working, so I would encourage everyone to go and check their own smoke alarm and make sure it works."