A 41-YEAR-OLD man died after the house in which he was staying filled with smoke when a chip pan caught fire early today.

Firemen found the man unconscious at the foot of the stairs in the terrace house in Ewood, Blackburn, shortly after 4am and dragged him outside.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate him but he was pronounced dead at Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

Firefighters said the blaze was caused by a chip pan which had been burning for several hours. It left a hole in the ceiling and the smoke detector had no battery in it. The house will be boarded up.

Divisional fire officer Mick Frankland said: "It is believed that the occupier of the house is not the person who was in the fire. We believe that the people who own the house have gone away. The man may have gone to bed as he was found in his underwear.

"Two smoke detectors in the houses on either side woke the neighbours, and they saw smoke coming through the letterbox.

"Chip pan fires are always bad news . If you have a smoke detector make sure it has a battery in it. This is a sad time for the fire service when despite all the hard work we do with chip pan campaigns and smoke detector campaigns, a chip pan fire has led to a death which could have been avoided."

Neighbours said a man called Graham Abbott lives in the house, but police said it was a visitor to the house who died in the fire. Chris Hampshire who lives next door with his girlfriend Julie Muldoon, said: "I was working from home in my office when I heard our smoke alarm going off, so I went to see what had set it off. I heard shouting and screaming outside in the street.

"The fire chief knocked on our window and told us to keep our doors and windows shut, and I woke Julie up and got her out of the house.

"Firefighters went into the house with breathing apparatus. They found a body at the bottom of the stairs and dragged him out but he was dead."

Police said they could not release the name of the man until all relatives had been informed.

There are no suspicious circumstances and the fire investigation is continuing.

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