Door locks had also been changed on the brick house in Mate Street.

Nevertheless, the female tenant had continued to visit the property with Kerry Allen, who rents a unit at the rear of the house, having seen the woman going inside the home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The property manager for the home confirmed to The Border Mail that the woman had been evicted and was considered to be trespassing through her recent visits.

Police said on Monday the blaze, which blackened much of the house, was not being treated as suspicious.

Detective Chief Inspector Mick Stoltenberg said the specific cause was unknown but it was possibly an electrical fault.

The fire started in a bedroom, which has a window facing on to the driveway which leads to Ms Allen's flat.

She looked out from her home about dusk on Sunday and saw licks of fire coming from that window.

"Flames were going straight up, it was flaring," Ms Allen said.

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"I was stunned I thought that bottle of Stone's (ginger wine) I was drinking, maybe it had gunpowder in it.

"Hooley dooley I thought, I'm 70 next week, I can't believe this."

Ms Allen said she last saw the evicted tenant about 30 minutes before the fire when the woman told her she was going to the nearby Apco service station.

The woman was spoken to by authorities when she arrived back to the fire scene.

Ms Allen was allowed to return inside her home about 8.30pm and had a cold night there without any power.

It was eventually restored about 2pm on Monday.

The grandmother was grateful to the emergency services and left heartbroken for her property manager.

"I just feel so sorry to the real estate agency, they've been wonderful to me, because it's hard to get a place," Ms Allen said.

"It's just unfortunate."

The property manager was also thankful for the work of firefighters who spent around 30 minutes extinguishing the blaze after being called around 6.25pm.

The extent of the damage is still not clear, with a structural engineer likely to be needed to inspect the integrity of the brick house.

The owner of the property lives overseas.

The property manager said she was unlikely to push for trespassing charges to be laid against the former tenant.

The fire was fuelled by furniture and goods that had remained in the house.

A double garage, which also contained household items, joined Ms Allen's unit in being able to escape harm from the flames which were not being pushed by winds.