A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl and her grandma were engulfed in flames today when a bottle of perfume fell into a fire as the toddler got ready for school.

Kara Hall suffered burns to her legs and feet while she was getting dressed in front of the gas fire at about 8am at her home in Station Road, Great Harwood.

As she pulled on her jumper, the Great Harwood County Primary school pupil knocked the bottle off the mantelpiece onto the floor.

The bottle shattered and sprayed the perfume onto Kara, her grandmother and the living room carpet.

Firefighters have now issued a warning over the dangers of keeping flammable substances near to fires after the blaze.

Kara's grandma, Margaret Miller, 64, quickly stamped out the flames and the youngster was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary by ambulance. Her badly burned shoes were left at the scene. She was treated with cooling ointment and painkillers and had her legs bandaged before she was released.

Mrs Miller, of Princess Street, Great Harwood, also suffered slight burns when her skirt caught fire, but refused hospital treatment.

Kara's mum, Vanessa, had just left for work at M and F Components in Accrington but dashed home when she was told about the accident. The girl's father, Michael Hall, also rushed home from Porter Bros and Gardner Industrial Supplies, Huncoat.

The family say the pair were lucky to escape more serious injury and hailed Kara's 11-year-old sister Leonie a heroine after she led them from the house.

Leonie, who goes to Norden High, Rishton, also took the family's pet dog and hamsters out of the burning room.

Vanessa Hall said: "I'm really proud of what Leonie did, because things could have been a lot worse. Kara is very upset and she was shaking with shock when it happened. She's going back to hospital on Thursday and hopefully she'll be okay."

Mrs Miller added: "It was cold so Kara was getting dressed by the fire. She was determined to put her jumper on by herself, but knocked the bottle over. It went up like a bomb when it hit the fire."

Blackburn Fire Station Commander Kevin Murray said: "The liquid, which was alcohol based, immediately ignited and set fire to both of them. To avoid this danger we recommend that anything flammable is stored in cupboards at a low level which should be locked if there are children in the house."

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