RESIDENTS in Cowley Road last night praised the quick actions of firefighters after a house blaze.

Crews battled a fire near The Cape of Good Hope pub at around 6pm on Friday and carried a woman to safety.

She was trapped on the first floor after a sofa caught light and was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital with smoke inhalation.

Last night, staff at the Oxford’s Grill restaurant opposite the house said they phoned the fire service after seeing smoke coming through the windows.

Owner Fethr Karabulut said: “The fire service were very quick.”

Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, added: “Smoke was billowing out of the windows.

“I saw the firefighters go in. They were in there four or five minutes, and then they carried a woman out. I couldn’t have said if she was alive or dead.”

The woman was heavily sedated by medical staff over the weekend and was believed to still be in hospital last night.

The cause of the fire, which closed the road for more than two hours, is being investigated.