Karen, who lives next door to the Chapman home which was swallowed in flames and smoke shortly before 2am, said they were at first alarmed by what seemed to be a disturbance outside.

"We heard someone calling out the front, we actually got quite a fright because it was loud and constant and we get a bit of riff-raff around here, we weren't quite sure what it was," she said.

Her husband and son ventured outside to investigate while Karen called the police.

They were shocked when they realised it was their neighbour.

"She's quite immobile so we were really surprised it was her. I never expected she'd be able to get herself out of the house," Karen said.

They helped the woman inside their home and waited for emergency services to arrive.

Remarkably, she was unharmed by her ordeal.

"She was very lucky to get out. She's a gorgeous old lady. I can't believe she got out. It must have been her adrenaline pumping," Karen said.

The woman was awoken by the smoke alarm as flames gutted the rendered brick home.

Its roof collapsed as fire crews battled to bring the blaze under control.

The damage bill is estimated to be at least $500,000.

Investigators later combed the property searching for the cause of the fire however it is not believed to be suspicious.

Another neighbour reported hearing an explosion as a "fireball" engulfed the roof.

"It was pretty scary. We thought someone was breaking into the Mr Fluffy house next to us but next door was just a big ball of fire. The amount of smoke coming out was just phenomenal," she said.

"One [firefighter] was standing up on this big long crane pumping water into the roof. The boys did a good job getting it under control"

Firefighters continued to monitor the property for hot spots throughout the day.