FIRE chiefs have urged more people to get smoke alarms fitted after a woman had to be taken to hospital following a blaze at her home.

The woman had to be pulled by firefighters from an upstairs bedroom window of the burning terrace home in Heap Street, Burnley, after fire broke out in the lounge at shortly after midnight yesterday.

Neighbours had tried to rescue her from the house after they found a builder's ladder but it was too short.

She was taken by ambulance to Burnley General Hospital where she was treated for the effects of breathing in smoke and cuts to her arm where she broke a window in her attempts to escape.

The cause of the blaze is being investigated, but fire crews confirmed that there was no smoke alarm fitted at the house.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said: "You're twice as likely to die in a fire at home if you haven't got a smoke alarm.

"A smoke alarm is the easiest way to alert you to the danger of fire, giving you precious time to escape.

"They are cheap, easy to get hold of and easy to fit. There's no excuse for not having one.

"But many people who have smoke alarms are in danger too.

"The alarm could be in the wrong place, there may not be enough smoke alarms for the size of their home, they may not have checked their alarm recently or the batteries could be missing."

Fire crews visited homes in the Heap Street area, Duke Bar, yesterday to offer free fire safety checks and smoke alarm fitting.

To arrange a check call 0800 1691125.