LEX Nicoll thought his electric blanket was playing up.
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But when the Whorouly beef farmer, 81, woke up in the early hours of yesterday morning he found the source of the heat something different entirely.
Flames were licking at his feet, smoke filling his bedroom.
He phoned his son on the neighbouring property who rushed to his aid.
The former Country Week cricketer was on the floor with a pot of water, trying to douse the growing blaze when Glenn Nicoll arrived.
“There wasn’t a lot we could do, the flames had taken hold, the house was full of smoke,” he said.
“When the power went out it meant that all we could do was use the pots and buckets of water.
“I grabbed some of Mum’s photo albums and made a dash for it.
“We just had to watch — the tiles were popping, the windows burst and the flames poured out of the window and the roof.”
Yesterday Glenn and his brother Brent were picking through the charred remains of the Whorouly River Road property their father had called home for 50 years.
“It wasn’t Windsor Castle but it was Dad’s home, his castle,” Glenn said.
“We weren’t able to save much but no one was hurt and dad is a little shaken, he’ll recover.
“You can always rebuild a house.”
At least five rooms were destroyed, the floor a blackened mess of joists and the roof had caved in.
A lemon tree next to the house seemingly the only thing left unscarred by the inferno.
CFA district 23 operations officer Graeme Neil said they were investigating the cause.
“All we can say at this stage is that the point of origin was around the bed and there were several potential sources,” Mr Neil said.
“The fire spread from there and he has lost everything in the house.
“The strong winds also helped fan the flames.”
The extreme heat and damage made it almost impossible to identify the source of the blaze.
Fire crews arrived about 2am, with trucks from Whorouly, Myrtleford, Bowman-Murmungee and Everton as well as a thermal imaging camera from Wangaratta which was used to pinpoint hot spots.
“Because it was a rural property the water supply was hard to get to, so it took some time to get the fire out,” Mr Neil said.
