A WOMAN bravely put herself at risk by breaking into a blazing Bradford house to search for relatives she believed were trapped upstairs.

In fact, the house on Waverley Street, Great Horton, was empty but by the time Hafeeze Raja was driven back by dense smoke, she had inhaled so much of the fumes she needed to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Fire broke out in the basement of the terraced house and relatives living next door raised the alarm after smelling smoke. Nephews of occupant Nighat Naz, 43, Rameez Raja and Zaqia Salam were unable to force their way into the property, but Hafeeze was able to climb through a kitchen window, which she also used to escape.

Following the drama yesterday morning, Hafeeze told the T&A: "I thought there were people inside the house, so I went to look for them.

"There was so much smoke that I could not see anything, so I went back out through the window. I thought they would be dead upstairs."

Fortunately, Mrs Naz was visiting her mother at the time while her husband Basharat was out working as a butcher. Their son Awais, 11, was at school with his older sister Aysha studying at college.

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She returned home from her studies yesterday to find the damaged house and was among those sifting through the wreckage yesterday afternoon.

Another sister was also out working and she has recently married, with the smoke from the fire leaving her wedding gifts blackened.

The family have been told the fire was started, just before 10.45am, by electrical equipment in the basement, but the exact reason for it starting has yet to be established.

Flames spread upwards through the house and around 50 per cent of the property had been affected by fire by the time fire crews, from the Bradford, Odsal and Fairweather Green stations, were able to douse the blaze.

There was extensive smoke damage to the rest of the house and neighbours were also affected by smoke penetrating into their homes.

The house was too badly damaged for the family to move back in, but Mrs Naz said it was still unclear where the family would be staying until the damage can be repaired.

"It is only two years since we had the house fully refurbished. My daughter got married last year and all her gifts are in there, just blackened," she said.

Firefighters spent hours at the scene and stripped out damaged furnishings and fittings from the house as part of the firefighting operation.