Fire rips through home

The fire is thought to have broken out in the bedroom of the semi-detached in Hyrstlands Road last Wednesday night, and then spread to other parts of the building.

Kenneth Brett lives in the house next door and said he was worried about the fire spreading into his home.

Smoke had to be pumped from his loft by firefighters.

He said: “It was late in the evening, and I could hear this crackling. I thought they were having a bonfire next door and I said to myself ‘What are they playing at, it’s past bonfire night’.

“Then I heard a massive bang, which at the time I thought was a firework, but now I think it must have been the window coming out.”

Mr Brett said he didn’t realise next door was ablaze until neighbours banged on his door and told him to get out at once.

“They were saying ‘come outside quick, there’s a fire’. Everyone seemed to know what was happening but me.”

Firefighters from Dewsbury were called to the fire at 9.45pm by Shazi Amir, who lives on the other side of the burned-out building.

She said: “There was a knock at the door in the evening and there was a man there saying there was something wrong with his house. It was on fire.

“It was really close to our house and we were all really scared.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.