A BOLTON man has been transferred to a specialist burns unit after falling on to a bonfire.

David Wolfendale, aged 42 was throwing a piece of wood on to a bonfire in View Street, Daubhill on Saturday night when he lost his footing and landed on the burning embers.

Parents with young children watching the community bonfire watched in horror as desperate efforts were made to pull Mr Wolfendale to safety.

The incident happened only yards from his home on View Street where his partner Pamela Tootle was yesterday recovering after burning one of her own feet after she stepped on to the fire to rescue him. Both were initially taken to Bolton Royal Infirmary but Mr Wolfendale was later transferred to Withington Hospital's special burns unit where he is expected to undergo plastic surgery to his injured hands.

"It all happened so quickly. Dave lost his footing and landed with his hands right into the fire," said Pamela who was released after treatment. "There are also some burns to the bottom of his back but his hands are the worst affected."

In another incident an 11-year-old Bromley Cross boy was treated for flash burns to his face after a firework exploded.

John Keiller, of Hospital Road, Bromley Cross was at a bonfire and fireworks party when the incident happened.

He was taken to Bolton Royal Infirmary where casualty staff treated seven people for injuries they sustained at bonfires on Saturday night. John was released after treatment. In Hindley an empty video cassette case filled with fireworks was pushed through a letter box at the Blockbuster video store on Atherton Road at just after 9pm.

The shop was evacuated after the fireworks exploded in the letter box which is fitted with an automatic fire alarm and extinguisher system.

"Thankfully there was very little damage, but this was an extremely foolhardy thing to do," said leading fireman Colin Waite.

While the Hindley crew were attending this incident, a crew from Wigan were called to a house in Heath Gardens, Hindley Green, after a six-year-old boy was injured by sparks from a firework.

The boy, who has not being named, sustained injuries to his face and was taken to Wigan Infirmary but was discharged after treatment. Fire crews in Bolton answered around 25-30 call outs in a six hour period on Saturday night. The majority of the calls were from residents concerned about the safety of some bonfires .

Last night crews were called out to numerous bonfires but none of them caused any serious damage.

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