House fire more like a ‘war zone’

WITNESSES to a fire at Molendinar have revealed the terrifying moment their neighbour’s home “blew up” in front of them.

Emergency crews arrived at the scene around 5.30pm on Saturday to find the Lillywood Circuit home already “well involved”.

Firefighters struggled for almost two hours to contain the blaze, and while they have now determined no one was inside the residence, no cause has been established.

Two neighbours, who declined to be named, described the scene as “like a war movie”.

“I heard a bang and thought it was a car accident, walked out here and it literally blew up in front of me,” one said.

“It wasn’t like what you’d see with a normal house fire. I’ve never seen anything like that before.

“It looked like something you’d see out of a movie, it didn’t look real at all.”

Nearby resident Ryan Littler, who was passing by with his girlfriend, said he heard a crash and an explosion, and believed it to be a domestic dispute before seeing a man run out of the house.

“He ran off into the street and then into some bushes near our street, he ran off into the bush,” he said.

“He was just sitting down there watching the fire. He just ran off pretty much straight after the house took off.

Mr Little added: “After he ran off, straight after that the whole house was on fire.”

Mr Little said he didn’t know the people living in the home, but detectives had told him they were on holiday in Melbourne.

“I spoke with the officers but there’s never been anything suspicious, there hadn’t really been any suspicious activity there,” he said.

“I could definitely see that he threw something into the house, and then there was an explosion.”

Other residents said owners of the home moved in only weeks ago.

Police investigations are continuing and a crime scene has been declared around the area. the had