Unattended fire sparked massive garage blaze in North Albury

About 20 firefighters attended the incident on Mate Street about 6.10pm, with nearby residents hearing loud explosions as gas bottles blew up.

Thick plumes of smoke were sent into the air, which glowed orange from the flames.

Nearby residents watched as the incident unfolded.

The owner of the property managed to escape uninjured.

He told The Border Mail on Thursday he had lit a fire in the shed using pieces of timber, and had only been inside for about 10 minutes when the blaze took hold.

While the fireplace had a guard, he believes one of the pieces of timber, or sparks, escaped and set fire to a cardboard box.

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"It must have been one stick too many," he said while looking over the crumpled shed.

Three cars, including a 1989 Jaguar, were destroyed along with a van.

The flames were so hot, an Esky about 10 metres from the shed melted.

Nearby resident Ross Quigley said it sounded like lightning had struck in his yard.

"It looks like the whole garage exploded," he said.

"It shook our entire house."

Firefighter Stephen Osmand said about 20 firefighters had attended and stayed on scene until about 9pm.

"They had to make sure any buildings to the rear and the side of it were protected so it didn't catch onto anything else," he said.

"There was quite a lot of stuff inside the shed."

The owner said he had lived in the property for six or seven years and was unsure how to clean up the damage.

"It's got to go somewhere," he said.

"I've accumulated a lot of stuff over time, nothing particularly valuable, but it's a shame to see the Jaguar go up."

Other items included tools, a coin operated claw machine, computer parts and magazines.

The fire was hot enough to warp the metal on the shed.

Mr Osmand said it was important people had screens in front of open fires.

"Don't leave open fires unattended," he said.

"People should also make sure they have a working smoke alarm."