TWO CATS died in a house fire in Bradford, it has now emerged, and it is thought that one of the pets may have played a part in starting the blaze by knocking over a candle.

Fire services were called to a house on Masefield Avenue after it is believed that the family cat knocked over an unattended candle.

Three fire crews from Bradford arrived at the scene, when a call was made at 12:26am on Wednesday, March 10 regarding a domestic fire.

The family made it out of the house safely with no injuries, however one of the cats was pronounced dead at the scene, whilst the other was resuscitated and taken to the vet, but sadly didn’t make it.

One of the family members told the T&A that only one room of the house is damaged, the rest of the house is stable.

Upon further investigation, it has come to light that the residents had made Incommunities aware of the issue with their electricity.

A spokesperson for Incommunities said: "We are sorry about the fire at the property and are working with the family now.

“The customer reported the electrics at her property had tripped a few weeks ago and was advised to unplug all recently used appliances, as sometimes these can overload standard electrical systems.

“They were advised to contact us again if the issue continued. There were no further reports to us made by the customer.

“We understand late evening on 8th March the electrics tripped again, this was not reported to us at the time and candles were lit in the property.

“Smoke alarms alerted the family to a fire in the early hours of 9th March which West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has confirmed was caused by an unattended candle.

“We are working with the family to secure their home, ensure they have somewhere safe to stay, can retrieve their possessions, and are making repairs to their home. Temporary housing has been made available until the fire damage is repaired.

“We conduct periodical electrical tests at all our homes, and we can confirm this property has a valid electrical testing certificate (EICR).

“A 24-hour emergency repairs hotline is available for all customers and customer safety is our absolute priority.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services confirmed that the blaze was started by an open flame on a wooden table that set the living room alight.