FIRE crews had to run the last few hundred yards to tackle a fire at a remote Rossendale farmhouse because their vehicles were too wide for the narrow track.

The drama began at 1.15am yesterday when Ian Binns, of Hey Meadow Farm, Edenfield, was woken by a crash as a burning dishwasher fell apart.

An electrical fault on the dishwasher had started the fire and filled the kitchen with thick, black smoke.

Engineer Mr Binns, 54, woke his friend Val Challon, of Lancaster, just before the smoke alarm went off. He ran to a nearby horse trough to fill buckets of water to fight the flames. He had to be treated in Bury General Hostital for the effects of smoke inhalation.

Severe damage was caused to the kitchen with smoke damage to other rooms. Ian's cat Kitty escaped unharmed. He said: "I put the light on and the smoke was so thick that the room was still pitch black."

Sub-officer of Rawtenstall fire station said: "We could not get the appliances up the very narrow lane and had to complete the journey on foot.

"When we got there the building was heavily smoke-logged and the two occupants were out of the house.

"The man had tried to fight the fire with buckets of water and had taken in lungs full of horrible black smoke."

An ambulance managed to complete the journey to the farm but Mr Binns decided to make his own way to hospital for a check-up. He was allowed home from Bury General Hospital later and is recovering at home today.

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