A QUICK-THINKING firefighter came to the rescue of a pair of parrots who nearly ceased to be during a house fire.

Rawtenstall firefighter Colin Western gave oxygen to the two birds after he spotted them at the bottom of their cage while dealing with a house blaze..

A crew had been called to a fire in a house in Schofield Street, Waterfoot, which was caused by a child setting fire to curtains with a lighter.

The birds had been taken outside but had been exposed to smoke and were on the verge of becoming ex-parrots.

Firefighter Western said: "After the fire we brought the cage back in.

"Both were on the bottom of the cage and we thought at first they were in shock.

"I put my hand in and felt them moving so we got them out and put the masks over them for about five minutes.

"It was surprising how quickly they came round. We were sure one of them was dead but within a few minutes they were right as rain."

The first bird brought back from the brink of meeting its maker repaid its rescuer the only way it knew how - by biting him on the hand.

The crew was called to the end terrace house at 6.20pm on Thursday.

Watch manager Tom Simpson said: "The fire was caused by a child who had lit the curtains.

"He had been playing with a lighter and that set fire to the curtains.Lighters and matches need to be out of reach so children can't get hold of them.

"Children will be fascinated by lighters and matches because they have seen their parents use them so they need to be kept of reach."

"The curtain was destroyed by fire and the house needed to cleared of smoke using a ventilation unit.

"The house did not have working smoke alarms."