By ADRIAN LOWE, The Age
A FAMILY of four was fortunate to escape serious injury overnight after their Noble Park North house caught fire while they slept.
A passer-by saw smoke billowing from the home in Jacksons Road at midnight and forced his way inside.
The man woke the family and alerted them to the blaze. They managed to escape the flames but two people were taken to hospital, a Country Fire Authority spokeswoman said.
A spokesman for Ambulance Victoria said the two that were hospitalised – a couple aged in their 60s – were taken to Dandenong Hospital where they were treated for smoke inhalation.
The single-storey, brick-veneer home was completely destroyed. Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, which is as yet unknown, but it is not believed to be suspicious.
In a separate incident, a woman was flown to hospital after she was severely burnt at her Wonthaggi home when her skirt caught fire.
The CFA spokeswoman said the woman had opened the glass door of her log fire about 10pm and her skirt ignited.
While trying to extinguish the fire, the woman was badly burnt, the spokeswoman said.
The woman was flown to The Alfred hospital, where she was treated for her burns, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.
In Melbourne, crews spent 30 minutes bringing under control a blaze that broke out in a garage in Darebin Road, Northcote, just after 3.45am.
The garage was believed to be a home theatre, which was completely destroyed. A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman said crews had worked hard to ensure the fire did not spread to neighbouring properties.
The damage bill is estimated to top $100,000.
