FIREFIGHTING hero Ronnie Eatough was today reunited with the tiny seven-week-old baby boy he plucked to safety from the top floor of a burning pub.

The pair met again as the tot's relieved parents thanked everyone involved in the dramatic rescue of the family from The Commercial Hotel, Clitheroe, earlier this week.

Landlord and landlady John Young and Tina Johnson were trapped on the second floor of the Whalley Road pub when fire broke out in the bar at 2.30am.

The couple, who have run the pub for more than 18 months, described how they were woken by their dog Lucy as flames burst through the ground floor windows, smoke logged the first floor and left the floor of their flat hot to touch.

John, 42, said: "Lucy was really scratching to get into the bedroom so I got up.

"I knew something wasn't right.

"I went downstairs to the first floor and it was absolutely red hot.

"There was smoke everywhere."

John, a car mechanic by trade, woke Tina, 21, told her to get up and dressed and telephoned the fire brigade.

He said: "I would like to say a special thank you to the girl on the end of the line, Amanda Berry, because she was absolutely brilliant.

"She told me what to do, asked me if there was another way out and said to block the doors and put wet cloths over our mouths.

"There was no other way out, we were trapped, so we were just looking out of the window waiting for the fire brigade to arrive.

"They were only six minutes but it seemed like forever.

"It was the longest six minutes of my life."

Two pumps from Clitheroe were at the scene within minutes of the call and a further two travelled from the retained service at Great Harwood. Mr Eatough, 43, a worker at Clitheroe's Castle Cement, was the first to race up the ladder to the family's aid.

John said: "I just handed him Daniel in a blanket and he said 'What's that?' I said 'It's a baby' but of course he couldn't see him at that point. "He took Daniel down and came back for Tina but we had to smash the frame of the window with an axe.

"He came back up and I handed him Lucy who was wrapped in a duvet.

"He said he couldn't carry her but I wasn't leaving her -- she saved our lives."

The dog was eventually winched from the window with a rope and the family were taken to Blackburn Infirmary for check-ups.

They are now staying with friends in the area.

John went on: "We have been told the pub will take three months to put right but we have plans for it and have put a lot of time in here.

"This is just a hiccup."