A 55-year-old man is in hospital with serious burns after a Sydney home was engulfed by a raging inferno.
The blaze is under investigation with neighbours saying they heard an explosion in the moments before flames several metres high engulfed the building in the south-west.
Neighbours were the first on scene about 3.30pm yesterday and some tried to tackle the inferno until firefighters arrived.
“Everyone was gathered, everyone was screaming,” said neighbour Abdulfateh.
“It was like 10 feet [three metres] up in the air, even more, just so scary it was so big.”
Neighbours on Hillview Parade at Lurnea said they heard an explosion from the front studio of the home.
Seconds later it erupted in flames.
“I heard like a bomb a very, very strong bomb,” Samira, another neighbour, said.
A 55-year-old man inside the studio was temporarily being cared for at the home under the NDIS.
He was taken to hospital with burns to his body and smoke inhalation.
Also in the house was a grandmother, her daughter-in-law and an eight-month-old baby girl. All escaped.
It took four hours to extinguish the blaze
Police are investigating whether the fire was an accident or was started deliberately.
