THREE fires in the same city within 24 hours have prompted the fire service to warn the public of the risks they could be taking in their homes.

A woman was lucky to escape with her life after she was woken by her smoke alarm at home in Ailcey Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire, in the early hours of yesterday.

A smouldering cigarette set fire to rubbish in a dustbin, starting a kitchen fire, which filled the rest of the detached house with smoke.

However, rather than leave her home and call the fire brigade, the woman called a relative and tried to deal with the flames herself.

She was later rescued by firefighters and taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Afterwards, North Yorkshire fire service spokesman Terry Glover said: "We would much rather be called out to something which takes minutes to deal with than to be called when it is too late and find ourselves at the scene of a tragedy."

Just a few hours earlier, Ripon crews were also at the scene of another fire, which started when an overheating tumble-drier vent set light to a kitchen curtain at a house on the city's Aismunderby Road.

A couple, woken by a smoke detector, dialled 999 and left their home with their two young children.

"They did exactly the right thing. They had an alarm fitted - which alerted them - got out as quickly as they could and then got us out," said Mr Glover.

Meanwhile, an 82-year-old pensioner was also a victim of a house fire in Ripon just after 2pm on Tuesday. An ember from the hearth started a fire in the lounge of her bungalow in the city's Lark Lane.

Mr Glover said: "There was no smoke alarm fitted in the property and no fireguard around the hearth."