NEARBY residents heard a loud explosion ahead of seeing a large fireball as a home was engulfed in flames at Henty yesterday morning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Police are treating the fire, which gutted the Third Avenue home, as suspicious.
The unoccupied fibro and steel house erupted in flames about 3.25am and was destroyed, with firefighters battling the blaze for two hours.
A nearby resident reported hearing shouting and a dog barking before the fire.
They said there had been constant problems with the home’s former residents, with people regularly coming and going at “all hours of the night”.
“It was really big,” they said. “There was just a big whoosh followed by a fireball and a lot of smoke billowing out.”
The rental home had been vacant; the previous occupant believed to have moved out several days ago.
There were unconfirmed reports the couple who had lived in the home had caught an XPT train out of Henty early yesterday morning.
Henty fire brigade deputy captain Phil Takle said the fire had been “really going”.
“We weren’t able to salvage anything,” he said.
“There was that much damage to the structure that it was hard to find any cause.”
Mr Takle said the house was one of the older homes in the street.
The electricity supply had still been connected to the home at the time of the blaze, causing problems for firefighters.
“There was a significant electrical hazard at the front of the house,” he said.
“The line going to the home became detached and was arcing.”
More than 20 firefighters had responded to the incident.
Mr Takle said nearby homes were not at risk as the house was on a large block.