A MAN is critically ill in hospital with burns after a house fire in Huddersfield today.
A neighbour who heard screams called the fire service.
Firemen arrived at the terraced house in Thornton Lodge Road, Thornton Lodge, and found the man trapped in an attic window.
Station Officer Paul Mace, of Huddersfield fire station, said the man was hanging halfway out of the window.
"It was too narrow for him to get out so we had to bring him back down through the house," he said. "It was a horrendous fire - very, very hot ."
Four other members of the family managed to escape unhurt.
Neighbours named the injured man as Basharat Ali. The fire service gave his age as 27. His condition at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, was said to be critical.
The cause of the fire, which started in the landing, is being investigated.
Neighbour Sobia Kauser said: "It was a very bad fire. His brother said he heard an explosion. The family were all in shock."
Fire crews from Meltham, Elland and Brighouse tackled the blaze just after midnight. Damage was restricted to the landing area.
Station Officer Mace said there were no smoke alarms in the house: "Had there been a smoke detector, the man would have had a lot earlier warning of the fire."
