FIREFIGHTERS have issued a warning after a two-year-old boy was almost killed when an ornamental candle set a television ablaze.

Leading firefighter Dave Hilliard today said the youngster was just two minutes from death. He warned that people using candles should always ensure they are placed on a solid surface - and should not be left unattended.

He stressed everyone should have a smoke alarm with a working battery fitted in their home and that the house in Willoughby Street, Blackburn, did not.

The youngster was asleep on a settee in the front room of the property when the fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Hilliard, of Blackburn fire station, said the boy's mother, 26, was alerted when the television screen imploded with a loud bang. He said: "She heard a loud popping and banging noise in the front room and discovered it was black with smoke.

"Her little boy was asleep on the settee so she ran in and grabbed him. Fortunately he had not inhaled much smoke, although we advised he was checked out at the hospital.

"But if she had not heard that noise he would have been dead two or three minutes later."

Firefighters were called to the house around 3.45pm and discovered thick black poisonous smoke billowing out of the property.

The whole house was badly damaged by smoke although the fire had not spread from the television.

Mr Hilliard said: "Particularly at this time of year people do use more candles but they need to be careful. People should make sure they put them on a solid non-flammable surface, not on anything that is plastic or electrical.

"Everybody by now should also have a smoke alarm. They are cheap and only need the battery changing once a year - it will save your life, if not your house."

The 26-year-old woman, her husband and their two children are staying with family members who live next door.

A man at that house would not identify the family and said they were too upset to comment.