Army Green Goddess crews based in Keighley battled a blaze which broke out at a block of flats in Oakworth today.

Neighbours dialled 999 shortly after 2am to report the fire in a first floor flat in Clough Lane and they quickly evacuated their homes.

A rescue team with breathing apparatus was also sent out to search for casualties but the occupant arrived back while they were tackling the flames.

Captain Johnny Lacken, an Army spokesman at the control centre, said the fire was thought to have started in the bedroom.

"The people who dialled 999 didn't know whether anybody was inside so we sent our Breathing Apparatus Rescue Team. They went into the property via a window while the fire was still raging," said Cpt Lacken.

Soldiers were on the scene until 3.45am and contained the fire to one flat which was extensively damaged in the blaze.

Across the county Green Goddesses were called out 54 times of which 36 were real incidents and most of the others genuine false alarms.

In Bradford, crews stationed at Belle Vue Barracks, Mann-ingham, tackled a chimney fire at a house on James Street, Allerton, at 12.40am and a garden shed blaze in Low Moor, at about 3.30am.

A pallet fire at Snaygill Industrial Estate in Skipton was also dealt with by the military at 2.50am.

A 5.15pm yesterday two cars which had been set in fire in Havelock Street, off Great Horton Road, Bradford, were swiftly dealt with. The incident was followed at 6pm by a small bin fire at Windsor Court in Little Horton and a car fire at Pearson Lane, Daisy Hill, Bradford, at about 7.15pm.

At 7.30pm there was a call to a fire on a grass embankment outside the Drop Kick Pub in Huddersfield Road, Bradford.

A call to a school building in Cliffe Road, Bradford, a short time later was a false alarm. Breathing apparatus was needed to deal with a fire in bins at Croscombe Walk, Bradford.