A TRAGIC house fire was averted last night, thanks to a family's life-saving dog.

After a fire started in the kitchen of a house in Haworth Road, Cross Roads, the family dog began barking loudly, waking up its owner.

The homeowner came downstairs to discover the kitchen and dining room ablaze, and quickly called the fire service out.

Firefighters from Keighley and Bingley rushed to the house at 9.28pm yesterday, where two firefighters entered the building with breathing apparatus to extinguish the flames.

While the fire was contained to the back of the property, the entire house has been affected by smoke damage.

Watch Commander Jon Macdonald, from Keighley fire station, said the house was "quite badly damaged".

He said: "We believe the cause of the fire was a battery charger for a children's remote-controlled car.

"The charger may have short-circuited, or the batteries may have been damaged, but it was an electrical fault with the charger.

"Everyone, two adults, one child and their pet dog, was out of the property before we arrived.

"It was the dog barking which woke the homeowner up and after seeing the fire they got their family and the dog out of there."

Watch Commander Macdonald added this incident stands as a warning about charging electrical devices.

"If you are charging things up, any mobile device, just make sure you are in the property the whole time, and when you are not charging things up make sure they are turned off," he added.