WOMAN ESCAPES INVERLEIGH INFERNO
SCREAMS for help could be heard from inside a smoke-filled house during a horror fire at Inverleigh yesterday.
A woman, who was the only person in the house, was seen fleeing as flames engulfed the property.
She was taken to Geelong hospital by ambulance with smoke inhalation and minor injuries.
Winchelsea CFA deputy group officer Mark Ingle was first on scene and arrived to find metre high flames and smoke pouring from the weatherboard Edwardian house.
“By the time we got there it was completely engulfed,” Mr Ingle said.
“We went straight in to try and stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring houses.
“By the time we got there that’s all we could do. There was a fair bit of heat coming out of it.”
Eight fire crews from other brigades arrived at the house, at the corner of Napier and Dundas streets, just after 2pm to assist crews already on the scene.
Belmont station officer Gavin Fitzgerald said strong wind was fanning the fire, putting several other properties at risk.
“We had two crews in breathing apparatus go in to try and knock down the fire,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“It was totally destroyed. It was fuelled by strong northeasterly winds.”
Fire crews spent about 20 minutes extinguishing the blaze.
A chimney stack and burnt rubble served as the only evidence that a house had once stood on the block.
Mr Fitzgerald said good work from the crews stopped the fire from destroying any other homes.
“Good work from Winchelsea and Inverleigh crews meant they were able to contain the blaze,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
Firefighters said the cause of the blaze was not known but some neighbours believed it started when an airconditioning unit exploded.
Fire investigators are expected to be on site today to probe the cause of the blaze.