A HERO dad has told how he scaled a drainpipe to save the life of a neighbour who was trapped in his blazing house.

Mashuq Hussain, 44, of Fern Bank, Nelson, fearlessly climbed up to a first floor window as a choking fire - believed to have been started by arsonists - swept through the home of Stephen Seal in nearby Chapel House Road.

But the modest father-of-four and senior youth worker at Marsden Heights Community College has played down his actions and said: "Anybody in my position would have done the same."

Mr Hussain was watching television when his son Farooq, 21, alerted him to the fire at around 2am on Saturday.

He said: "We ran straight round to the house and the fire was really coming out of the windows with some force.

"Then I saw Mr Seal in the upstairs window trying to break out and so I got on to the drainpipe.

"When I got up to the window, I smashed the glass and pulled him out and laid him on top of the bay window.

"He was coughing and spluttering and he was not well. He was in complete shock.

"At one stage I even thought he had stopped breathing.

"Luckily he was conscious but he was disorientated and was covered in black soot from head to toe."

When Nelson crews arrived, they took over and Mr Seal was brought down.

Mr Seal taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation where he remained today.

While Mr Hussain was helping Mr Seal, Farooq and brother Zahoor, 19, went next door to alert an elderly couple.

The couple, who live next door in Day Street, were also taken to hospital but were discharged on Saturday.

"The paramedics told me to go to hospital too but I was not too bad," added Mr Hussain.

"When Mr Seal came down he was really grateful and the firefighters said I had saved his life.

"I am just glad we got there in time but it was only because my son heard it from his bedroom window."

Police are investigating the cause of the fire, which left Mr Seal's house gutted and the elderly couple's property severely smoke damaged.

Firefighters said the incident highlighted the importance of fitting smoke alarms.

Dave Jackson, from Nelson station, said: "He has been extremely lucky.

"There were no smoke alarms fitted so he had no early warning and he has been badly affected by smoke inhalation, for which he was treated."