Police investigate as blaze engulfs Torrensville home overnight

The paperwork in the recently auctioned Torrensville home had not been completed before it went up in flames overnight.

A real estate agent has explained who will foot the bill after firefighters a newly-sold Torrensville home was engulfed in flames in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Fire crews rushed to the character home on Palmyra Ave, which recently sold for more than $1 million, when the alarm was raised just after 12.30am.

An MFS spokesperson said fire crews found the house fully alight.

“Twenty-four firefighters from six appliances in one command vehicle worked to extinguish the fire in approximately two hours,” she said.

Originally deemed suspicious by the MFS, SA Police have since said the fire is non-suspicious and happened due to a gas leak.

A suspicious fire has ripped through a Torrensville home overnight, causing a damage bill of about $600,000. https://t.co/D7DDGxK2AN#theAdvertiserpic.twitter.com/ln5Ng7tP1q

— The Advertiser (@theTiser) February 28, 2024

Firefighters arrived to find the Torrensville home engulfed in flames in the early hours of Thursday morning. Picture: Dasha Havrilenko

Damages are estimated at $600,000. Picture: Dasha Havrilenko

The MFS spokesperson said no injuries were reported.

“Fire investigators have attended and the structural damage is initially estimated at $600,000,” she said.

The house was sold at auction for $1.06 million in December 2023, but the devastated owner told 7NEWS the property settlement was supposed to be completed next week.

Director of Martin Real Estate Colin Martin spoke to explain who will have to accept responsibility for the damage bill in cases where the settlement contract has not been signed.

Mr Martin said it is the purchaser who has to accept the liability of the contract despite not signing the settlement.

“On the signing of a contract the responsibility in the contract states that the liability and responsibility states that the purchaser must take out insurance,” he said on Thursday.

“And consequently when they’ve (the purchasers) gone to put their application into the bank, the bank would also have given them a reminder to protect their assets because they have what is called an equitable, insurable interest.

“The responsibility of signing the contract is on the purchaser.”

Fire investigators have yet to determine the cause of the blaze, it is however being treated as potentially suspicious. Picture: Dasha Havrilenko

Dimmitri Christou, 34, lives a street away from the fire but after hearing the sirens he went out to view the incident.

“After hearing the fourth or fifth siren I walked around to see what was going on … and I saw the house was absolutely cooked,” he said.

“The flames had completely consumed the entire house, you can see the roof has collapsed and the windows have been completely destroyed.”

Neighbour Priyanka Keshye, 35, said she woke up to the noise of the fire crew and the sight of their flashing lights just after midnight.

“I could see the firefighters running around they were yelling,” she told The Advertiser.

“There was a lot of smoke going up and I couldn’t see where the smoke ended and the clouds began.”

Another Palmyra Ave resident Tony Coleman, 67, said the fire really scared him when he saw it in the middle of the night.

“I just woke up with lights flashing from fire trucks everywhere and I woke up and came out here and it was really scary,” he said.

“It was such a fierce fire you could really feel it’s intensity.”

Mr Coleman said he also felt distraught because of how much bad luck the property seemed to bring to its owners.

He said one of the previous owners were the Dutta family, who all died in a horrific road accident in India.

“I knew the previous owners who owned Urban India on Henley Beach Road for over a decade or so,” he said.

“It’s just so tragic to think that one moment you’re all happy and the next everyone is gone.”

The restaurant owner Rupen Datta, lost his wife Anamika and three children Nikita, Bipasha and Digvijoy in the crash.

Mr Datta’s sister-in-law and father-in-law also died in the crash.

Mr Datta died following health complications after the crash.

Originally published as Police investigate as blaze engulfs Torrensville home overnight