FIREFIGHTERS have warned about the importance of maintaining smoke alarms after a house fire in Accrington.

The blaze started in the kitchen of a house in Sandy Lane after the fat inside the grill pan caught fire and smoke-logged the kitchen.

Leading firefighter Michael McDonough said: "There two smoke alarms in the house, but one was disconnected and the other one didn't have any batteries in it. If these were working the householder would have been alerted to the fire a lot sooner."

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