Firefighters saved a puppy from being burned alive at a nasty flat fire.

A woman was rescued by a passer-by after a blaze broke out at a flat on Lowood Lane in Birstall at 1.30pm today.

After she was pulled from the building it was realised that her dog was hiding inside.

Firefighters from Cleckheaton went into the burning building and searched for the terrified pooch.

Watch Commander, Jimmy Johnstone, said flames were shooting out the door and into the eaves of the building, above a fish and chip shop when they arrived at the premises.

He said: “When we got there a lady had been rescued by a passer-by but a little puppy was still in there.

“The fire was in the hallway which well alight and very smoke logged.

“One of the officers in breathing apparatus managed to find the little dog cowering in the corner.

“He passed it to me and we got it out okay.

“The flat was so badly damaged it was uninhabitable.”

The rescued woman, thought to be in her twenties, was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital.

The rescuer was also treated by ambulance workers but is not thought to have been seriously injured.

An investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched.