A WOMAN and her 9-year-old son escaped a house fire in York.

The blaze began in the kitchen of a terraced house in Rosebery Street, in the Leeman Road area, just before 10pm on Wednesday.

It began with an electrical fault in washing machine but the flames soon spread to the rest of the timber framed extension, which was completely destroyed by the fire.

Nobody was hurt, but the woman suffered slight smoke inhalation and was treated on the scene by paramedics, and her son got himself out of the house and was uninjured. 

Two crews were sent initially, but one left the scene after around an hour.

Firefighters in breathing apparatus used a hose reel jet to put out the fire, as well as a thermal imaging camera and a fan to clear smoke from the building.

One witness, who took the photograph above, said: "I went into the back alley to walk the dog and saw flames at the rear of a property."

They said they had run to the end of the lane to unlock the coded alleygates and also move 20 wheelie bins to improve access for the fire brigade, but said parked cars had also made it difficult for them to get to the lane.

They said: "The smoke was so thick while I was moving the bins on my own, I had to keep running into fresh air."