FIRE wrecked a house in East Albury yesterday morning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The house’s sole occupant, a man, 46, is believed to have been at work at the time of the blaze.
The fire burnt through two rooms.
It caused extensive smoke damage to the weatherboard and tin roof house on the corner of East and Andrew streets.
Firefighters later declared the home “a write-off”.
It is believed the fire was caused by an electrical fault but police and fire investigators are yet to officially declare the cause of the early morning blaze.
“We’re not treating it as suspicious,” Albury Insp Tony Moodie said.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at 6.01am.
Three units from Albury Central and Albury Civic stations arrived to find the building well alight.
Flames could be seen leaping from the roof of the building.
With the epicentre of the blaze towards the centre of the house, firefighters entered via the front door.
They then conducted a search for occupants of the house.
When the firefighters found none they turned their hoses on the flames.
The blaze was brought under control by firefighters within half an hour.
All hotspots were vanquished by 7.16am.
It was only then that the firefighters gave the all-clear.
But firefighters declared the house a “write-off”.
“Two rooms, one a bedroom and the other, possibly a spare room, were severely damaged by fire,” senior fireman Brett Arundel, from Albury Central, said.
“And there was smoke damage throughout.”
It is believed the occupant, a shiftworker, was at work at the time of the blaze.
Firefighters said the house blaze had not threatened neighbouring homes.
A passing motorist saw that the building was alight just before 6.30am.
“The roof was alight and already ready to explode,” the witness said.
“The flames were very high.
“But they (firefighters) had the fire under control very, very quickly actually.
“They did a top job.”
