A 21-year-old man has told of his lucky escape from a blazing house.

James Williams was confronted with fierce flames from a bedroom at the end terrace rented house where he was staying.

An investigation to discover how the blaze started in the upstairs room of the property at Albert Street, Cross Roads, at about 1.05am today, has been launched by West Yorkshire fire and rescue service.

Mr Williams said: “I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud pop and thought the electrics had blown. All the lights went out and there was this flash from the stairs.

“I went upstairs to see what was going on. I couldn’t believe it – there were huge flames coming out of the bedroom. I just turned and ran back down out of the house.

“I was just glad there was nobody in that room. There is nothing left of the place now.”

He was staying in the house with friends who had been tenants about a year. They were not inside the building when the fire started. He believed the fire could have been sparked by an aerosol exploding.

At the height of the inferno, flames could be seen pouring from the bedroom window and firefighters from Keighley and a retained crew from Haworth used hose jets to tackle the outbreak.

The fire destroyed the bedroom and flames spread to the roof. There was also extensive smoke damage to the upstairs of the house.