Vermont South house fire: Lascelle Drive blaze being treated as suspicious

A group of people living at a Vermont South home managed to run to safety after fire engulfed the property in the early hours of Monday morning.

Fire Rescue Victoria and Victoria Police on the scene of a house fire in Vermont South Monday morning.

A Vermont South house fire is being treated as suspicious, with a group of people living at the home fleeing to safety after the ferocious blaze broke out.

The single storey brick veneer home in Lascelle Drive was totally engulfed in flames after the fire broke out about 12.50am Monday, November 7.

Fire Rescue Victoria said five of six occupants, who were at home at the time of the fire, had safely evacuated before firefighters arrived, with no injuries reported.

Wearing breathing apparatus and using an aerial appliance to deliver water from a height, firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, bringing the incident under control within 30 minutes.

The roof of the Lascelle Drive house has collapsed.

Speaking on Monday morning, Whitehorse crime investigation unit Senior Sergeant Gerry Muileman said at this stage the fire was being treated as suspicions.

“We’ve got our fire investigators in there now and until they say one way or another we’ll treat it as suspicious,” he said.

He said all the residents were uninjured and accounted for and were now living elsewhere.

The intensity of the blaze caused the roof of the home to collapse, and Sen-Sgt Muileman said due to structural damage, he believed the house would need to be bulldozed.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.