The blaze, which broke out in Charles Street at 5.40pm, is thought to have been caused by a dropped cigarette setting bedclothes alight. Although smoke alarms were fitted in the house, they failed to activate.

Two appliances and ten fire-fighters attended the incident, which gutted a bedroom and caused smoke damage throughout the house and in the attic areas of adjacent properties.

A man was taken to York Hospital suffering the effects of smoke inhalation, and three chinchillas died at the scene.

Selby Fire Station manager Cecil Pugh said: "The message we really want to get out is smoke alarms save lives, but only if they work.

"If the smoke alarms had been working, the occupants could have been alerted much earlier than they were and injuries could have been avoided and damage minimised.

"It's a real concern for us that people that do have smoke alarms fitted don't continue to maintain them and test them on a regular basis."

Over the past three years, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has attended 944 property fires where smoke alarms were fitted, but in 40 per cent of cases, the smoke alarms were either not working or failed to raise the alarm when they activated.

In addition, the service attended almost 600 property fires where no smoke alarms were fitted at all.

Now NYFRS has launched a campaign to for people to fit smoke alarms on every level of their home and test them once a week to make sure they're working.

Area manager Dean McQue said you may have only minutes to escape from a fire, so smoke alarms should be positioned on every floor so they detect smoke quickly.

He warned people were twice as likely to die in a fire if they didn't have a working smoke alarm, and 90 people die each year because the battery in their smoke alarm was flat or missing.

Selby Fire Station provides a free smoke alarm fitting and home risk assessment service.

Call 01757 702453, or the Fire Safety Advice Line on 01609 788545, or log-onto the www.northyorksfire.gov.uk website for details.

Picture: Tony Saxton