TWO families were forced to flee their homes last night as a result of accidental fires in Bradford.

The first happened at a house on Rose Avenue, when flames erupted in a bedroom while occupants were downstairs.

A smoke alarm went off which meant the female occupant was able to usher her children, aged three, five and 16, along with a visitor, outside to safety before calling the fire service.

Firefighters from the Idle and Odsal stations attended and restricted the fire, which is believed to have started accidentally, to one bedroom, but the house was too badly damaged for the family to stay there until repairs have been carried out.

That incident happened around 7.45pm and at 10pm firefighters were called to another house, on Toller Grove at Heaton, where an electrical fault caused a tumble dryer to burst into flames.

There were working smoke alarms in the house, but two people were in the kitchen and one man tried to use a fire extinguisher on the flames but that didn’t work and he evacuated the house with the rest of the family, leaving firefighters from the Fairweather Green and Shipley stations to tackle the flames. They also used a positive pressure fan to drive fumes from the building.

There were no casualties and firefighters will be doing a ‘hot strike’ in the area over the next few days to make sure neighbours have working smoke alarms installed.

A brigade spokesman also stressed the importance of having fire extinguishers checked regularly by professionals to ensure they remain serviceable, where they are present.