FIRE crews at Warrington had to break into a smoke-filled flat to rescue a man who had gone in to try and rescue his cat.
The blaze was in Froghall Lane – and is believed to have been started deliberately. Police are investigating.
Firefighters were called to the scene shortly after 6pm last night to find one man had been led to safety by a friend after being trapped inside when the fire broke out in the living room.
But another man had gone in to try and rescue his cat so firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went in to rescue him. He could not get out because the door was locked and he could not find the key.
A smoke detector was fitted in the first floor flat – but was not working – and it was believed some of the occupants had been drinking heavily.
A Fire Service spokesman said: “It was a confusing situation but there were a number of lessons to be learned from this incident.
“One is that you should never go into a fire to rescue a cat. They seldom get harmed – they know what to do when fire breaks out. Another is to make sure smoke detectors are working properly and a third lesson is not to drink excessively.
“This incident could have ended in a fatality and it was largely due to luck that it didn’t.”
