AN 80-YEAR-OLD Noble Park man has died in a house fire fuelled by hoarded newspapers and rubbish.
Fire crews were called to the Corrigan Road blaze about 10.20pm on Monday 4 February.
Neighbour Steve Chaskaris said his windows were open and he and his children smelled smoke.
“We were worried there was a fire in our house,” he said.
They went into the backyard, then out into the street and realised the house next door was on fire.
Just as Mr Chaskaris opened the front gate to the burning property the first fire crews arrived.
“They told me to stay back because of the smoke,” he said.
“I told them there was an old man in the house and they needed to get him out as soon as possible.”
He said fire-fighters rushed inside, rescued the unconscious man, and tried to resuscitate him until ambulance crews arrived and took over.
“They did a fantastic job,” Mr Chaskaris said.
“Unfortunately he didn’t make it.
“I thought it would have been alright because there were no flames coming out of the property.
Mr Chaskaris had lived next door for about six months.
“We said g’day and good morning. He kept to himself,” he said.
“He loved his animals. He had some ducks.
“He was a good guy. I never heard anything bad about him.”
Greater Dandenong CIU Detective Senior Constable Simon Ellis said the man had lived in the house for more than 30 years.
He said police were still investigating exactly what started the blaze, but an arson chemist had deemed the fire’s cause to be non-suspicious.
Det Sen Const Ellis said the house did not have smoke detectors, and collected papers and rubbish inside the house had fuelled the fire.
