A MOTHER has spoken of the moment she feared her family would die after an arson attack left her and her young daughter clinging to an upstairs window sill.

Jacqueline Young, 42, was asleep at her home on Mosley Street, Blackburn, when her partner Richard Marsden woke her, saying he could smell smoke.

Mr Marsden jumped out of the window as fire swept through the house, breaking a bone in his pelvis, his ankle, and fracturing a bone in his spine. He was found lying in the street by fire crews.

Jacqueline's 15-year-old son Michael climbed down a drainpipe to safety.

The blaze began in the ground floor rear living room at just after 6am on Saturday and is being treated as suspicious by police.

It came the night after youngsters were blamed for setting fire to two wheelie bins and the shed at the house.

But the mother-of-three said she couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm her or her children.

Mrs Young woke her 12-year-old daughter Zoe and son Michael, who were in the two front bedrooms and threw a chair through Michael 's bedroom window.

But when Mrs Young turned round her terrified daughter had run back into her bedroom and closed the door, cutting off her escape route.

"I could hear her but I couldn't get to her so I climbed from one window to the other to get her, " said Mrs Young.

"I had to grip the window I had smashed and reach over to the other bedroom window to get to her. She was crying her eyes out and saying she was going to die.

"I got her on the window sill and we were both holding on to the sill.

"I could feel the heat on my hands and Zoe said her hands were burning so I told her to let go and I would keep hold of her but she wouldn't.

The pair were eventually rescued by firefighters using a ladder but Mrs Young feared her 18-year-old son David was downstairs in the rear living room, where the fire started.

Fire crews went in to explore but fortunately he had stayed out for the night.

Jacqueline said: "It was awful. I thought I was going to die. I was just going to jump myself then I could hear Zoe's voice. I looked down and Richard was on the ground, cut and everything, and he wasn't moving."

She and her daughter were treated for smoke inhalation and released on Saturday afternoon. Richard was still in Blackburn Royal Infirmary today and was said to be stable.

The family were staying in Mr Marsden's flat but would not be able to move back into the house because of the damage to the downstairs, Jacqueline said.

"I 'm going to have to find another place to live, " she added.

"I'm just glad we all got out. I know Richard is in hospital but at least we are all alive. We could all have been burned to death if he had not woken up.

"I just hope the police get them and lock them away for a hell of a long time."

Detective Inspector Bob Eastwood, of Blackburn CID, said officers were treating the incident as arson with intent to endanger life.

"To be awoken at that time of night with your house on fire must bring about sheer panic," he said.

"Luckily they had the presence of mind to get out quickly even though that meant injuring themselves in the process. Had they not woken up I think we would be dealing with four fatalities." Homes in the area have been leafleted by the fire service and fire crews will be calling to advise residents on fire prevention and smoke alarms.

Station officer Kevin Gibson of Blackburn Fire Station said: "The pair were badly charred from the smoke when we arrived and were hanging on from the first floor window sill, tottering on the upper front door ledge for balance.

"It looks like the man lying in the road had jumped or fallen trying to make his escape."