A POLICE officer who raced into a burning building to save a family after seeing a terrified boy jump from an upstairs window has been praised for his life-saving efforts.

Jan Herak, who was not at home when the fire started, said he was extremely grateful for the officer’s quick-thinking.

Police in the area were alerted when 11-year-old Daniel Herak jumped from a first floor window shouting “fire, fire”.

The child was caught by a neighbour, but injured his ankle in the fall.

One unnamed officer ran into the house, on Westfield Terrace, Undercliffe, and carried other family members out as smoke engulfed the hallway.

Those rescued included two boys aged three and 13, and two girls, aged five and nine, and their great-auntie, 59, who has epilepsy.

Mr Herak received a phone call from another son, Viteslav, 20, saying there was a fire at the family home at around 1.25pm yesterday.

The 45-year-old, originally from Slovakia, said: "The police officer saved my children's lives. I'm very happy that he did it. I feel very grateful to him that he rescued my family.”

He said his relatives were terrified.

"The police officer just ran in and got my family out.

"There was so much smoke. The kids were so scared.

"I'm really happy today that everybody is okay and that we are safe. I just feel relieved. It was a lucky day that no-one was hurt any further.”

The fire is thought to have started in the living room

"It was a small fire but there was a lot of smoke,” Mr Herak said.

"My 11-year-old son jumped out of an upstairs bedroom window. He said he panicked when he saw the smoke. My neighbour caught him as he fell."

Neighbour Ladic Jirka heard Daniel shouting and caught him as he fell from the window.

Another neighbour Vojtech Lakatos, who also saw the boy jump, said: "I just wanted to help. It was quite scary."

The family was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary for smoke inhalation treatment and the police officer was given oxygen treatment at the scene.

Fire investigation teams were at the house on yesterday afternoon to establish a cause of the blaze.

Today, a fire-ravaged door was removed from the living room and the hallway had signs of smoke to the walls

The police officer was given oxygen treatment at the scene.

Fire investigation teams were at the house on Saturday afternoon to establish a cause of the blaze.

Yesterday, a fire-ravaged door was removed from the living room and the hallway had signs of smoke to the walls

Watch commander Mark Rogerson, of Bradford fire station, said the house was badly smoke logged.