A TEENAGER has been praised for her bravery after rescuing three infants from a blazing house.

Louise Smith, 16, of Railton Avenue, Blackburn, was baby-sitting in a semi-detached house in Foxstones Crescent when she smelled smoke coming from the upstairs bedroom at around 4.30pm.

She dialled 999 before racing upstairs to save the three children, three-year-old Cathlene-Marie, one-year-old Britanny and four-month-old Kurtis.

Firefighters today said the family was lucky to be alive after they had been delayed on a malicious call at the other end of town.

"I thought about how dangerous it was, but I could not just leave them inside," Louise said. "Flames and smoke were coming out of the room upstairs and I knew we had to be quick."

The fire broke out in the front upstairs bedroom of the house owned by Peter McDonagh, 28, while he was upstairs resting last Friday. He was also later pulled from the house by firefighters.

It was a double shock for the family after Peter's brother Eamonn McDonagh, 17, was found dead outside the Moorings, off Lower Hollin Bank Street, in the Infirmary area of Blackburn days earlier.

Modest Louise, a former St Bede's High School pupil, who had been baby-sitting at the house since noon, said she just followed her instincts.

" I was watching television when I smelled smoke. I was really shocked," she said. "I went upstairs and grabbed Cathlene-Marie who was on the upstairs landing.

"I led her outside and went back in to get the two babies and take them somewhere safe. I then tried to get Paddy downstairs. But the room was really hot and flames were coming out of the window and the smoke was really thick."

One of the children suffered burns to the arm and all four were treated by paramedics and taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary suffering smoke inhalation.

The fire is thought to have started by a cigarette left on a bed.

A terrier dog was also brought out of the house but efforts to revive it with artificial resuscitation failed.

David Hill, chief executive of Lancashire Ambulance NHS trust, said: "Louise showed very great presence of mind in what must have been a very frightening situation.

"The ambulance service does not encourage people to put their own life at risk. The fire brigade should be called straight away and follow their advice of getting out and staying out.

"But often there is an instinctive reaction to act first and worry about the potential dangers afterwards.

"It is a relief to hear that the situation ended as it did. Clearly it could have been much worse if it was not for the prompt action of Louise."

Louise is in her second year of an NPQ in Hairdressing at Blackburn College.

Valerie Smith, 35, Louise's mother said she was very proud of her daughter's bravery. "This has been a very difficult time for Peter's family and we have always tried to help out.

"Louise collapsed the next day from the shock of what happened and has been struggling to breathe because of the smoke. If it wasn't for her the children would have died."