A BLACKBURN councillor said he was “thankful to God” that his family escaped unharmed from a fire that wrecked their home.

And Arshid Mahmood praised his teenage daughter whose quick thinking helped save her three-year-old sister who was playing in the living room as it was engulfed by flames.

The family have had to leave the home, in Revidge Road, following the blaze last Wednesday afternoon.

They are currently lodging with relatives but are hoping to eventually move back when their home has been repaired.

Coun Mahmood, who represents Corporation Park, was at work at Blackburn central post office in Ainsworth Street when he got a telephone call from his wife telling him about the fire.

He said: “It’s just gutted. The living room is completely gone.

“The TV, DVDs, everything is destroyed. And there is smoke damage throughout the property.”

The father of five said 14-year-old Witton Park High School student Laraib, who was off school because she was unwell, deserved praise for her response to the blaze, which is thought to have been started by the toddler playing next to the fire in the fireplace.

He added: “My wife was in the garden at the time. The three-year-old shouted up to Laraib, who was upstairs, and she ran down and tried to put a blanket on it, but it didn’t put it out.

“So she grabbed the toddler, shouted to her mum and got out the house and called 999. She’s a hero to me and the rest of the family.

“She did everything right, and I am very proud of her.

"I am just thankful to God that everyone got out OK.”