A family was today keeping a bedside vigil after a flat fire left a man fighting for his life in hospital.

Construction worker Pat Leonard, 62, was found badly burned and unconscious on the living room floor of his home in Bolton Woods, Bradford.

His partner Sandra Lacey, 47, and their teenage son Martin had been out visiting family nearby when the blaze broke out.

Choking smoke filled the stairwell at Stillington House and plumes of smoke were pouring out of the top storey flat’s windows as firefighters from three stations arrived.

A group of neighbours had tried to rescue Mr Leonard but were beaten back by the smoke and heat.

It was a crew wearing breathing-apparatus who got into the flat and discovered Mr Leonard, ‘bundling’ him down the stairs on to grass outside on Monday night.

Witnesses told how medics worked on him for 15 minutes before he was taken away by ambulance.

Neighbour Brian Bairstow said: “We were watching them help him. His face was all black and his arms had been burned. He looked in a bad way. My flat’s under his, I know him really well – everyone does round here. Everyone’s wanting to know how he’s doing.”

Patrick Lacey, whose sister is Mr Leonard’s long-term partner, said he had to break the news to her. “At first I thought the worse that Sandra and Martin had been in there with him so I rang our other sister and she said they were with her.

“When she came on the phone, I didn’t tell Sandra how bad it was, I just said she’d best come down. She was there in minutes and was in total shock. She went in the ambulance with him and now she’s with him in hospital, along with Martin, just waiting.

“They’ve rung and told us he’s on a ventilator and hasn’t come round yet but they’re talking about skin grafts which sounds a bit more promising. We’re all just hoping for the best.”

Mr Lacey added: “Pat’s a hardworking man, fit for his age – he’s got that on his side.”

Yesterday forensic officers and fire investigators were examining the scene – it is believed the blaze might have started in the kitchen which was destroyed.

Sandra Lacey’s sister Jane Bianco-Media, the mother of one of Mr Leonard’s have-a-go rescuers, said: “We’ve been trying to work out what’s happened. Sandra always had a meal ready for Pat every night without fail so we can’t think he would have been trying to cook himself something.”

Mr Leonard was moved from Bradford Royal Infirmary to Pinderfields, Wakefield, because of his injuries. He was later transferred again to Sheffield Northern Hospital where his condition was critical last night.