FIREFIGHTERS today warned residents to keep track of their house keys after two women were locked in their property during a York fire.

Luckily the pair were freed from an upstairs bedroom when a quick-thinking neighbour heard their shouts, grabbed some ladders and plucked them to safety.

Fire crews said the two women raced upstairs as intense flames took hold in the ground floor dining-room of the Acomb house yesterday.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said an unattended candle had set fire to curtains being blown by the wind in the room at Albion Avenue.

Firefighter John Colquhoun said the women had been rescued before crews from Acomb and Tadcaster arrived.

He said he understood the women could not place their front door keys and, finding themselves trapped, tore upstairs to raise the alarm. Melted keys were later recovered from the seat of the blaze.

In a safety message to residents, he added: "People should make sure they know where their front door keys are or make sure they are accessible."

He called on people to contact their local fire station for free advice on fire plans, which includes information on smoke alarms and where to store door and window keys.

Yesterday's fire happened just before 3.30pm and left the dining-room badly burned and totally total smoke-logged. The blaze also caused severe heat damage in the kitchen.

Residents at the semi-detached property declined to comment when asked about the incident yesterday afternoon, but they confirmed nobody had been injured.

The two rescued women were left shocked by their ordeal, the fire spokeswoman confirmed, but they both declined medical treatment.

The two crews who attended the blaze needed breathing apparatus and spent more than an hour at the scene.

Updated: 11:05 Tuesday, August 03, 2004