A CAR wash owner has been hailed a hero as he told how he went into a burning building and rescued an elderly man.

Ismail Kadeh, of Shiny Star Hand Car Wash, said there was thick black smoke inside the house in Long Street, Thirsk, when he entered it with two members of his staff yesterday afternoon.

He said he had seen smoke coming out of the windows and then gone in when a woman said there was someone inside. "She said he needed help," he said.

He said they found the man and carried him to safety outside, and left him with family members until an ambulance arrived.

Next door neighbour Jayne Robson has hailed the car wash men as heroes.

She said: "It was frightening. I live next door and the men at the car wash were heroes. With no hesitation, they went into the burning house and saved the man's life and then just got back to work.

"Thank you to them and then the firefighters and police who did their job and do so every day."

The car wash posted on its Facebook page: "Well, I'm proud of our carwash today. A fire breaks out across the road and quickly were to the rescue into the blazing house and brought out the old man, just as the emergency services arrived. Glad we were able to help and bring him out safely. Hope he is ok."

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said today that a fire investigation officer had been looking in to the blaze, and concluded it was accidental.

A spokesman said it was believed something had been left too close to a fire and caught fire after overheating.

Five fire engines and an aerial turntable ladder from Thirsk, Ripon, Boroughbridge, Northallerton and Huntington, York, were sent to the ground floor blaze.

Eye witness Stephen Knowlson said he saw flames coming out of the ground floor window and smoke billowing out from a first floor window and the roof.

He then saw people from a car wash across the road carrying an elderly man out of the house.

Another witness, Rochelle Petty, of Boston Spa, said she could see smoke from some miles away as she approached Thirsk on the A168.

She said that as she reached the street, she could see flames coming out of the window. "There was also thick black smoke," she said. "It was really quite bad.

"I could see a man sitting against a wall, with people around him. The ambulance and fire engines hadn't arrived at that stage."

Carly Samantha Garbutt posted on Facebook that the rescued man was her grandfather and he was “ok”. She also said she planned to give a gift to the car wash men, who were “absolute heroes”.