A DAD-OF-TWO has experienced first-hand the dangers of fire after part of his garden became engulfed in flames.

Danny Keenan and his wife were hosting some garden drinks with their neighbours in Barrow when their evening took an unexpected turn for the worst last month.

As the temperature dropped, the 35-year-old decided to use some petrol in an attempt to revive the dwindling fire.

However, he never expected the fire would spread uncontrollably and damage the garden furniture in the process.

He said: "We were using the firepit to keep us warm because it had got a bit cold.

"But we couldn't get the logs to stay alight so I got a bit of petrol and poured it onto the firepit.

"I didn't think it would cause such big flames.

"We just wanted the wood to keep burning.

"A bit of the petrol had splashed onto my arm so I ran away from the fire so as not to set on fire myself.

"The fire jumped up my arm first which is why I ended up dropping the canister. Fortunately I managed to bat it off quickly so I didn't get burned.

"I never thought it would go up in flames like it did - it was a more of a shock than anything. The flames spread quickly as we have a tarpaulin under the stones and that caught light which then jumped onto the sofa.

"We could've burnt ourselves really badly. We knew there was no fear of it getting out of control or that we'd have to call 999."

The quick-thinking neighbours were able to make an inventive getaway - lifting up their garden fence, dragging the remains of the sofa through and using the panel to protect themselves from the flames.

Mr Keenan said: "It took us a good 10 minutes to put it out properly. We were really lucky that none of us were hurt in it and the only damage was the cushion covers getting burned."

Mr Keenan said the incident made him realise the dangers of using petrol on fires.

He said: "It's definitely made me think not to use petrol in the future.

"I think I'll just use fire-lighters next time and get a better fire pit."