The only visible sign today of the wall of flame which last night engulfed a York street was a small, muddy hole being excavated in the middle of Rawcliffe Lane.

AFTERMATH: Ralph and Anne Southworth pictured in their fire-damaged garden in Rawcliffe Lane, Clifton Picture: Paul Baker

That, and the charred stump of a silver birch tree in the garden of the nearest property to the gas leak, which only hours earlier had erupted into an inferno.

Inside the house, pensioners Ralph and Anne Southworth were just coming to terms with the dramatic events of last night.

On a coffee table in their sitting room stood two cups of cold coffee and the remains of two cream cakes - all that was left of the snack they abandoned last night when a neighbour hammered on their door and told them they had to get out.

Ralph and Anne were thankful to have escaped with their lives.

The couple, who were alerted to the blaze by a neighbour, went out of their back door and feared the house would not survive as they watched 40ft flames rise above the roof.Anne said: "The house is singed around the walls but apart from that it's not really damaged. It's a miracle it's still there.

Mature trees which had been growing outside for 20 years, however, have been reduced to ashes.

Anne said: "Our gas is off at the moment but these are all minor worries because the important thing is that we are together and we're safe. I'm not worried about anything else because what could have happened doesn't bear thinking about."

Outside, as the rain began to pour down, workmen from Transco were using a JCB to excavate the road and dig down to the damaged section of pipe.

Spokesman John O'Grady said it would be cut out and sent off for examination. A new section of pipe would be fitted in place so the gas could be reconnected as soon as possible, he said. Workmen were expected to begin going round all the homes where gas had been cut off later this afternoon to check it was safe for gas supplies to be switched on again, and advise people what to do.

Postman Andrew Perry and his girlfriend, Anna Westmorland, consider themselves lucky to be alive after fleeing from the site of the gas leak seconds before it burst into flames.

They were walking along Eastholme Drive at 9.30pm last night when they heard a rumble under the ground.

Andrew, 19, said: "We got to the bottom of the road and heard this noise under the ground like water rushing through a drain. As we got further the noise was unbelievable.

"It was this whooshing sound like a waterfall and there was this horrendous smell of gas so me and my girlfriend ran off and knocked on a door further down the road to get them to call 999."

But as families began to arrive back at their homes in the quiet residential street today, the overwhelming feelings were of relief - and confusion.

At Kim Shoobridge's home just a hundred or so yards from the scene of the fire, the family were sitting in a cold, dark house, afraid even to turn the electricity on.

Kim and her family - husband Graham and daughters Holly, 11, Ruth, nine and Grace, six, were all among those evacuated to Canon Lee School. Son Tom stayed with his girlfriend.

The wall of flame was clearly visible from the Shoobridges' house before they were evacuated.

Kim admitted her youngest daughter had been terrified by the fire. Her fear had lasted even when they were safely away.

Kim said: "She kept trying to go to sleep and waking up in the middle of the night saying 'mum, is my house on fire?"

Kim admitted she was puzzled by the fact that when the family got back home today the gas pilot light was working. "We're not sure what's going on," she admitted. "We're just waiting. It's all a bit confusing." She paused for a moment. "It's amazing that nobody was blown up."

At Christine and James O'Brien's home, also just yards from the scene of the fire, the gas central heating was on today, warming the whole house. Electric power was also unaffected.

"These are new houses. We must be on a different system," Christine said.

Meanwhile, at Canon Lee School today, life was more or less back to normal. Classes were under way, although head teacher Kevin Deadman accepted some pupils who had spent the night helping to look after evacuees, and some who had themselves had to be evacuated, had not turned up.

"Of course we understand," he said.

See also:

Wall of flame

The night our street exploded

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.