A BLAZE victim has spoken about the moment of terror when he perched on a 25ft high window ledge to escape a fire in his flat.

Mark Wolfe was forced to break a window as he fought to stay concious and was saved by firefighters after alert neighbours raised the alarm.

The amateur climber was even considering trying to abseil to safety in a desparate bid to escape the flames.

Mark was led to the ground down a ladder by a firefighter.

The blaze broke out in the flat in Manchester Road, Nelson, at 7.25pm last night. The first floor was already well alight when firefighters from Nelson arrived.

Mark, 37, was taken to Burnley General Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and cuts, thought to have been caused when he broke the window. He was released after treatment.

"I was playing my guitar when I noticed smoke coming down through the roof," he said. "I opened the door and there was smoke and fire everywhere. I couldn't get down the stairs so I got out on the window ledge. I've got some climbing gear and I was going to abseil down to the ground but the fire brigade came along and put up a ladder."

"Smoke was pouring from the first floor when we got there so we went straight in through the front," explained sub officer Andy Taylor.

"We found the man on a window ledge at the back of the building. He was very lucky because he didn't have a phone and it was a passer-by who spotted the fire and warned us.

"We got him down the ladder and gave him oxygen until the ambulance arrived."

The blaze caused severe fire damage to the bedroom and hall and severe smoke damage to the rest of the building. It is believed a burning candle may have fallen over and started the blaze.

Mark, who has lived in the rented accommodation for the past five years, is an out-of-work freelance photographer.

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