A MAN who fell asleep while a meal was cooking was lucky to escape a house fire in Endeavour Hills on Saturday night.
The fire started in the kitchen in the double-storey brick-and-weatherboard home in Sydney Parkinson Avenue about 9.40.
The blaze spread through the wall cavities into the home’s upper storey, destroying the house. The man, who a next-door neighbour alerted, escaped the blaze unharmed.
CFA crews from Hallam, Dandenong and Narre Warren North fought the fire for 30 minutes to bring it under control. A CFA spokeswoman said the fire was not regarded as suspicious.
Fire also damaged an abandoned house in New Street, Dandenong about 8.30 the same night.
Squatters had occupied the house but no one was harmed in the fire, which started in the kitchen and spread to the roof cavity.
