FIREFIGHTERS say that a fire put out by a disabled pensioner in a wheelchair yesterday could have been a lot worse.

The man, who has not been named, managed to extinguish the flames that were spreading from a washing machine in the kitchen of his home in Brunshaw Road, Burnley.

The man was not injured in the fire but that was down to his quick thinking and decisive action, according to fire chiefs.

Firefighters who attended the scene said that the man first of all isolated power to the machine by turning off an electrical switch, then opened the back door and threw some water over it.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue said: "It could have been a lot worse but the smoke detector went off and the smoke alerted him to the fire.

"Luckily the man did everything right and made it easier for us to go in and sort it out.

"He was very upset and his wife was very upset when she got home, but it could have been a lot worse."