FIREFIGHTERS were called to a fire in a residential terraced house off Newmarket Street, Skipton, yesterday (Tuesday) late afternoon.

A spokesperson for the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said crews from Skipton Fire Station responded to the call at 4.45pm to a fire in The Ginnel.

The spokesperson said: "The fire caused significant damage to the living room and kitchen of the property with the upstairs also suffering smoke damage. Two other properties were affected by the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation."

Councillor Robert Heseltine, who lives next door to where the fire broke out, raised the alarm after hearing a woman shouting outside.

He was inside his apartment talking to someone, went outside after hearing the woman to be met with flames coming from the property next door. He went back inside his home to phone emergency services to find it was full of smoke.

"I heard a woman screaming outside, I went outside and saw flames belching out of the front door of the house next door; I also heard explosions, it was very nasty; it sounded like gas canisters.

"She was absolutely hysterical, I asked if there was anyone inside the house, but she couldn't say anything. Eventually, she said no, there wasn't anyone inside.

"I went back into my apartment to call the fire brigade, and it was full of smoke."

Two fire appliances arrived in minutes and took about 30 minutes to get the fire under control, said Cllr Heseltine. In addition, he described how two firefighters wearing breathing equipment went inside to make sure no one was left inside.

Neither Cllr Heseltine, or his tenants in the flat above his apartment, were allowed back inside for a few hours because of smoke.

"The firefighters were very good, they were very prompt in turning out and very efficient, they came into my apartment, opened all the windows and blew clean air through it to get rid of the smoke," he said.

Today, Wednesday, Cllr Heseltine said there was still a very strong smell of smoke in his home, and he feared he would have to throw a lot away.

He added: "There is nothing in my house that has not been saturated by the smoke; there is a very pungent smell that just hits you when you walk through the door. The only thing that really matters though is that no one died, and no one was injured."