AN AIR ambulance flew in to investigate a roof fire at a Horsforth home after spotting clouds of smoke billowing into the air.

Firefighters believe the blaze, which badly damaged the roof of a house on Grange Drive last Thursday, was caused by the heat from the flue of an open log fire.

Rawdon firefighters were called to the scene at 3.24pm. They were originally told it was a chimney fire, but arrived to find much of the roof ablaze.

Sub Officer Chris Clarke, of Rawdon Fire Station, said: "On approaching the house there was lots of smoke, and it soon became obvious it was something more than just the chimney."

The West Yorkshire air ambulance helicopter crew spotted the smoke as it was returning to Leeds Bradford Airport, and landed in a nearby field, believing the fire was more serious.

Mr Clarke said the fire, which seriously damaged the roof, took around an hour to put out. He called for back-up from Cookridge Fire Station.

No-one was injured in the fire. The occupants of the house, a couple with their two teenage sons, got out of the house after their smoke alarms sounded.

l Education chiefs have discussed emergency measures in the wake of a fire which wrecked six classrooms at Horsforth School. Leeds City Council education officers presented a report to the council's Executive Board last week. The officers said they had now brought temporary classrooms onto the site to accommodate pupils. However, a spokeswoman said the report did not discuss plans to rebuild the classrooms, or the total cost of the work.