FIRE crews had to use breathing apparatus as they tackled a chip pan fire last night.
Two fire crews attended the blaze at St John's Road in Birkby just after 6pm last night.
Watch manager Alan Woodcock said the male occupant had put a pan of chips on the cooker and gone upstairs to make a phone call. During the phone call the pan caught light.
Mr Woodcock said: "The occupant was alerted to the fire by the upstairs smoke alarm going off. He came downstairs but the kitchen was full of dense smoke.
"He had a smoke alarm downstairs but it appears it was faulty, possibly because of a flat battery."
Firefighters spent about an hour at the property which suffered serious smoke damage.
The man was taken to the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for a precautionary check up.
Mr Woodcock added: "This shows the importance of smoke alarms and checking them regularly. This man had sensibly fitted two but, as this proves, they need to be checked."
