A RESIDENT has described seeing the living room window of a house in Ellesmere Port explode before flames licked up the side of the property.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, dialled 999 before running over to alert the occupant and her neighbours on Woodchurch Lane at around 11.10pm on New Year's Eve.

A woman had to be rescued and a dog sadly died in the blaze, which it is thought started accidentally.

One resident living nearby told the Standard he had been taking out the recycling when he spotted an orange glow coming from the living room of a property opposite.

“Then the window just blew out,” he said. “I came back inside to grab my mobile phone to call the fire service then I went straight over to alert the woman and her neighbours.

“The flames were halfway up the front of the house by this point. The fire service and police were unbelievable; they arrived very quickly.”

The man added: “It was fortunate I went out when I did. Being New Year's Eve there were fireworks going off and people might not have heard the explosion.”

A spokesman for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “One woman was rescued from the property by fire crews before being placed into the care of paramedics and taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

“Sadly, as a result of the fire one dog which was inside the property died."

“The crews, four wearing breathing apparatus, used two hose reel jets and one safety jet to extinguish the fire.

“Crews also checked the loft and adjoining properties for smoke spread and used a large fan to clear smoke. Crews were at the scene for six hours.”