A BABY girl was rescued from a house fire and revived on the pavement outside early today.

Fire crews said the 14-month-old child was the only person in the house in Waterbarn Street, Burnley, when they arrived, shortly after 12.30am and they battled through flames to reach her.

Police were today questioning the child's parents and other witnesses to get more details about the incident.

But the blaze, which is believed to have started near the bottom of the staircase, is being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters rescued the baby from her cot in an upstairs bedroom. She was given oxygen by the fire service and ambulance crews before paramedics took her to Burnley General Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

She was being treated in the intensive care unit today.

Station officer Paul Harvey, of Burnley Fire and Rescue, said: "We nearly had a loss of life. If it had been another night when we were on strike it could have been worse.

"I think that's the frightening thing. We were there in less than four minutes and she was rescued within two minutes of arrival.

"Maybe if it had been tonight that little girl wouldn't have been so lucky. We were there so quickly and the immediate response of the firefighters led to an early rescue. But even at that stage she was showing no vital signs of life.

"It was touch and go for a while. Luckily she is making a good recovery now and is on a hospital ward. The cause of the fire is being treated as suspicious and investigations are being carried out with the police."

The incident caused fire damage to the ground floor and severe smoke damage to the whole house.

Detective Inspector Stuart Barlow confirmed that police were investigating the fire.

He said he could not release any further details until he had spoken to the parents and relevant witnesses.

The back street behind the house was sealed off by police today and the house was being guarded by three police cars.

One neighbour said: "I was wakened by the fire brigade after midnight. They asked me to leave my house as a precaution because of the smoke. I don't know who the people are. Tenants move in and out of some of the houses in this street pretty quickly."