A MUM and her nine-year-old daughter were trapped as flames engulfed their home.

Paula Bailey managed to pass Millie to firefighters through an upstairs bedroom window before she collapsed after breathing in smoke.

Battling through thick smoke, the 999 crew smashed the front door down and carried Paula to safety.

The fire broke out in a garage at the detached house in Greenbrook Close, Lowerhouse, before spreading to the adjacent kitchen.

Firefighters used a ladder to reach the window and grabbed hold of the youngster, who was screaming for help.

A police investigation is now under way into the cause of the blaze which is being treated as suspicious.

Watch manager Alan Ashworth, from Burnley Fire Station, said: “When we arrived a mother and daughter were at the window. Using a ladder we got the daughter out but then the woman disappeared from view.

“We had to break the door down and we found the woman collapsed at the top of the stairs. Paramedics gave her first aid at the scene and she was taken to hospital.

“The fire started in the garage and we are now investigating the cause. There is a lot of fire and smoke damage to the home and we are glad that we were able to get them out when we did. We just hope that they are okay.”

The pair were treated at the Royal Blackburn Hospital for smoke inhalation and the mother and daughter were believed to have been discharged yesterday afternoon.

Neighbour Maureen Tattersall praised the fire crews for their quick response to the incident which happened at 10pm on Sunday.

She said: “We heard the little girl screaming and just thought it was children playing out at the front at first.

“But the fire brigade came really quickly, asked if anyone was inside and got her out within minutes.”

Her husband Keith Tattersall added: “I have never seen the fire brigade in action before but I was surprised by how efficient they were.”

Another neighbour, Graeme Brown, said: “We woke up when we heard the girl screaming and looked out of the window and saw the fire. The firemen got her out really quickly.”

Last night the girl’s father, named locally as Gary Bailey, and the girl’s grandmother Christine Bailey, of Richmond Street, were too upset to talk.

Another girl, believed to be the nine-year-old’s older sister, was not at home when the blaze took hold.