NEIGHBOURS have described the terrifying moment a Rathmines home went up in flames like a "bomb going off" - shaking the foundations of houses around it.
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Lynette Jennaway has lived at Rathmines for 22 years and said she's never seen anything quite like the horror fire that engulfed a two-storey home on Somersham Avenue on Monday afternoon.
"There was a massive explosion and my whole home shook, then there was a second explosion and my house shook again," she said.
"Next minute I could hear all these police cars and ambulances and there was all this black smoke outside my window."
Fire and Rescue NSW crews received nearly 30 Triple Zero calls about the blaze in Lake Macquarie.
Just after 1pm, eight fire trucks arrived at the Somersham Avenue address to find a large cloud of black smoke billowing from the roof of the brick house.
A series of explosions forced firefighters to take cover and establish fire lines to attack the blaze, which had already enveloped about 60 per cent of the property.
Luckily, nobody was hurt and neighbours told firefighters they had escorted the home's only resident to safety.
Crews were concerned about the potential for more explosions, after finding a volatile acetylene gas tank outside the house had been exposed to flames.
HAZMAT firefighters from Newcastle were on the scene to provide assistance, and it's believed the fire started in a workshop in the garage of the home.
Ms Jennaway said the explosions coming from the scene of the fire were incredibly loud.
"I've got a big, solid, double-storey brick house and it was as if someone had hit your house," she said.
"I had no idea what was going on, the acrid smell is terrible.
"Everyone in the street was out the front, not that I've heard a bomb go off but it sounded like a bomb going off twice."
Firefighters have since extinguished the blaze.
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Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
