A FAMILY – including a toddler and a pregnant woman – are lucky to be alive after firefighters rescued them from their burning home.

Fire crews rushed to the terraced house on Glebe Street, off Westbourne Road in Marsh, at 4.55am on Saturday morning.

It was the first of two similar lucky escapes over the weekend after a dad managed to flee from his burning home in Abbey Road, Fartown, at 4.20pm yesterday. Again the house had no working smoke alarms.

Watch Commander Chris Johnson said the family-of-five in Marsh had had a "lucky escape" as there were no smoke alarms fitted in the house.

He said the family had gone to bed after accidentally leaving a pan of oil on the stove.

As they slept the pan had overheated and started a fire which ripped through the kitchen.

Watch Commander Johnson said: "Thankfully one man woke up after hearing a bang and managed to climb out of an upstairs window and raise the alarm.

"It was lucky that he woke up in time or else those five people would be dead now.

"It was more luck than judgement and they were lucky this time because they didn’t have any smoke alarms.

"It was a great rescue and fast action by the Huddersfield and Elland fire crews."

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued three people from an upstairs window and one from a downstairs window.

Those saved included two men, a pregnant woman and a toddler. They were treated for smoke inhalation.