A family home in Nicholls has been “totally destroyed” by fire early this morning, with one man taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
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The fire brigade was called to Numbat Place shortly before 5am, with the house engulfed in flames by the time the first fire engine arrived.
“Before they entered the cul-de-sac, coming down the road, they could see the flames coming through the roof and they were at least three metres above the height of the roof already,” Commander Mike Cochrane of the ACT Fire Brigade said.
“The occupants of the house were outside. [The crew] spoke immediately to the gentleman who suffered from smoke inhalation and he’s been taken to hospital; he indicated that everyone was out of the house.”
Back neighbour Lilly Bogojevic woke to the sound of people screaming and could see flames billowing from the roof of the house immediately behind hers.
She called the fire brigade but was told they were already on their way.
"It was so scary, I thought do I use my hose? But it's nothing (compared to the fire)"
Ms Bogojevic knows the family who lived in the home, but was too shaken to go around and see what was happening.
“The main thing is they’re all right – it’s big damage but luckily that’s not the main thing ... it could have been much worse," Ms Bogojevic said.
The fire brigade was able to prevent the fire spreading to neighbouring properties, but the house itself was gutted by the fire, with fire fighters unable to get inside the home to attack the fire, which had already spread to the roof space.
“They protected the surrounding properties but the house in question is totally destroyed … it’ll be a bulldoze job,” Commander Cochrane said, with estimates of $450,000 worth of damage.
“It took quite some time [to extinguish] because whenever you have a collapse like that it’s difficult to get to the hot spots underneath.
“Also … the garage is part of the front of the house, we had difficulty getting through the roller doors and they had to be cut open … the car has been on fire as well and the garage is destroyed, so that took some time to gain proper entry to the garage area.”
A fire investigator is on scene to determine the cause of the fire, which is still unknown.
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