Community vows to rally around family whose home was destroyed by fire in Halton Moor

Neighbours had run to the aid of the family, who they say lived there with their four children as they spotted flames and smoke billowing from the semi-detached home on Ullswater Crescent this morning (Thursday).

The three oldest children were said to be at school as the drama unfolded, while a woman and the youngest child, were both helped out of the burning building by a passing neighbour.

Neighbours then said she took shelter in a house across the road and all they could do was watch as the house went up in flames while they waited for the fire brigade.

Gabby Naylor who also rushed to help said: "There was nothing we could do but watch for the fire engine turning up. I had seen the smoke and was still in my pyjamas and dressing gown, I wasn't even ready for the day, but just bolted straight for the front door. Another neighbour who knows the family was straight in there to get them. If it was not for him she would not have got out.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue team said: "We were called at 10.40 today to reports of a fire in the outer building of a property on Ullswater Crescent in Leeds. We sent four fire engines, from Killingbeck, Leeds, Bradford and Garforth."

Cordons were put in place at either end of the street and the police were also called to help the fire service. By late this afternoon the house was being secured as housing officers from Leeds City Council remained at the scene.

The fire has burned through the roof at the side, front and back of the house and the windows are blackened and smashed. In the garden were the remains of blackened clothes and melted toys.

Ms Naylor said the family would have the support of the Halton Moor community in re-building their lives.

She added: "She has been there a long time, all of us on the street have been here for years and are quite close-knit. They have always got somewhere to stay and a lot of people to support them and we will always be here. She is quite valued on the street and a good neighbour to have - a lovely girl. It is really sad to see this has happened."

Another neighbour who lives behind the property, and whose home was also damaged said it was "a ferocious fire".

She said: "I could see smoke while I was in the house and thought it was clouds but then I looked again. Somebody banged on the door, I opened it and the heat just hit me. It had been burning for a while for it to be like that and just watched it burn in next to no time. It could have been so much worse."

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