Badly-discarded cigarettes and disposable barbecues have contributed to a surge in fires during this week’s heatwave – with a dramatic blaze at a Bradford house among the worst incidents.

Amid sweltering summer temperatures, firefighters across West Yorkshire were called to 190 so-called ‘fires in the open’ between Monday and Thursday this week - compared to 79 outdoor fires in the same period last week.

“A lot of these are caused by people out walking who might be smoking and just drop a cigarette, or people who are using disposable barbecues in the open,” said Chris Kirby, Area Manager for West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.

Yesterday, he told a meeting that such a “big increase” was a “challenge” at a time when the county’s fire service was also providing resources to help tackle a huge blaze just over the border on Saddleworth Moor.

And it has now emerged that a severe house fire in Holme Wood, Bradford, had been caused by a disposable barbecue that had been put in a bin.

Fire crews had been called at around 11pm on Thursday to the address in Wenborough Lane, where they were confronted with a fire which had engulfed the porch of the property, which is divided into an upstairs and downstairs flat, and had also spread in the first floor flat.

A fire service spokesperson said the property had been “100 per cent involved” in the fire.

Yesterday, a police cordon was in place around the fire-wrecked terraced property.

The windows had been blown out on the top floor and the porch was also destroyed.

Yesterday afternoon, the fire investigations team tweeted: “Thursday night’s house fire in Holme Wood, Bradford, was caused by a disposable BBQ being placed in a wheelie bin.

“Never place BBQs in a bin even if they appear cold. Always give them a thorough soak in water before disposal.”

Two people who had escaped from the fire were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

One nearby resident said he had been told a woman had jumped from a first-floor window to escape the fire, and had also heard the occupants kept dogs which may have perished in the blaze.

He said: “I just saw the fire, I didn’t really know what had happened.

“When I saw it the first was in the porch, and then when the fire service arrived the power box went up in flames.

“I don’t know the people in the top flat, but the lady who lives in the ground floor flat is in a wheelchair, but she wasn’t in at the time.”

The property is managed by social housing provider Incommunities.

An Incommunities spokesperson said: “This is a very distressing incident and our Neighbourhood team are on site and are helping those residents affected by the fire.”

A meeting of West Yorkshire Fire Authority was held yesterday morning, where Mr Kirby gave an update on current challenges for the county’s fire service.

He told the meeting that the service had sent numerous officers to help Greater Manchester Fire Service at Saddleworth.

He said: “Moorland fires like at Saddleworth provide significant challenges when you experience them. This one has seen a national response. We will continue to send resources to the incident over the weekend.

“It is a big challenge, but not something we are not used to dealing with.

“There has been an increase in fires over the last week. Between Monday and Thursday there have been 190 fires in the open, bits of grass or rubbish catching fire or moorland fires. In the same period last week that number was 79, so it shows there has been a big increase due to the hot weather.”

On Wednesday night a dropped cigarette is thought to have caused a blaze at the historic Damems Station in Keighley. The fire damaged a wooden fence at the side of a footpath at the station, on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

Later in the day firefighters were called to Vale Mill Lane, Haworth when a spark from a steam engine landed on grass embankment and caused a fire.

They were then called to another grass fire behind Asda in Keighley.