A WOMAN died and a man needed hospital treatment after a fierce fire swept through a house in York early today.

Neighbours were woken by the sound of breaking glass as an explosion blew out the downstairs windows of the semi-detached house.

Firefighters were on the scene within minutes but were unable to save the woman, whose body was found in an upstairs bedroom.

A man who lived at the house with his brother was taken by ambulance to York District Hospital. His brother is not believed to have been at home at the time of the tragedy.

The blaze started at around 4.15am in Campbell Avenue, Holgate.

It spread quickly, gutting the ground floor and leaving the upstairs rooms severely smoke-logged, but firefighters managed to prevent it from spreading to other properties.

Next-door neighbour Ronald Scott said: "I had just woken up and took a look out of my bedroom window and I just couldn't believe my eyes.

"Flames were licking out of the windows so I started to bang on the wall to alert them.

"Then there was a loud explosion and the windows blew out. It was a nasty shock."

Mr Scott, a retired railwayman, praised the firefighters.

"They got here very quickly - I was glad to see them when I saw those flames," he said.

"They did well to tackle it as swiftly as they did."

Sue Cowling, a neighbour on the other side of the house, said: "We heard a bang and looked out the window and could see the fire was really fierce. It just spread so quickly.

"The lad from next door was outside shouting, but he seemed to be in pretty severe shock."

Station Officer Roz Ramli said: "When we arrived we were greeted by flames coming out the ground floor windows and doors and thick smoke from first floor.

"Two teams wearing breathing apparatus were sent in to fight the severe fire that had taken hold on the ground floor."

Mr Ramli said they were met by a male occupant of the house when they arrived but that the body of the woman, who has not been named, was found in an upstairs bedroom.

It took around 20 minutes to bring the fire under control.

He said that early indications suggested the cause of the fire could be electrical, but that other causes could not be ruled out.

The man who was taken to hospital was discharged after receiving treatment in the accident and emergency unit.

Scenes of crime officers from North Yorkshire police were this afternoon sifting through the shell of the house.