When Trevor* woke in the early hours of Wednesday morning, he thought he heard someone setting off firecrackers outside his Florey home.
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Instead he and his wife ripped open the curtains to find fire roaring through their next door neighbour's house.
An exploding gas cylinder is believed to have sparked the inferno which consumed the Hewlett Circuit home about 1.30am.
Firefighters worked through the night to extinguish the blaze, after receiving multiple reports of an explosion from nearby residents.
Trevor said by the time he raced in and phoned triple-0, fire crews were already on their way.
"It took 20 minutes for them to get it out. We were worried for our own place, there were some embers out the front," he said.
"It was well alight before anyone noticed. I thought we might have to evacuate, it was a bit scary," Trevor's wife, Sharon said.
The house was unoccupied at the time and no one was injured.
Multiple sources said the house had been unoccupied for close to two months, although some said the owner occasionally returned.
The fire caused the roof to cave in and several windows to explode.
A neighbour walking her dog on Wednesday morning said the plumes of smoke could be seen from streets away.
Smoke still curled from the charred ruin hours after the fire had been extinguished.
Firefighters estimate between $200,000 and $250,000 of damage was caused.
*Last name withheld by request.
