A WOMAN was rescued by firefighters from a first floor window after a blaze in a basement flat filled the building with smoke.

Firefighters were called to the three-storey property at St Mary’s, off Bootham, York, at 9.25am yesterday.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said the fire had started in the kitchen of the basement flat. He said: “It appears the fire was caused by an item being placed on a cooker which had been left switched on. The fire was contained to the kitchen, but caused severe smoke damage throughout the building.”

Four pump units were sent to the property from York, Acomb and Huntington fire stations, and an aerial ladder was dispatched to the scene from York.

Two men escaped the basement flat without injury before officers arrived, and the woman was able to climb down the ladder without assistance. The spokesman said nobody was injured in the fire, which was under control by 10.15am, and there were no suspicious circumstances.