Unattended cooking sparks house fire in Bell Street Coburg

An elderly man has escaped after the back of his weatherboard home went up in flames in Coburg.

Fire crews at a house fire in Bell St. Picture: VicTraffic

An elderly man has escaped safely after unattended cooking sparked a house fire in Coburg.

Fire Rescue Victoria crews responded to the fire at the single-storey weatherboard home in Bell St about 4am Monday, following multiple calls to triple-0.

The left lane of Bell St remains closed westbound between Nicholson St and Richards St due to the fire, with drivers urged to allow extra time to get through the area.

FRV said crews arrived on scene within five minutes to find flames and smoke coming from the back of a 7m x 10m home.

Wearing breathing apparatus, firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, bringing the incident under control within 30 minutes, containing the fire to the rear of the home and protecting the properties next door.

FRV said an elderly man, the only occupant of the home, evacuated safely prior to the

brigade’s arrival. There were no injuries reported.

The cause was attributed to an unattended cooking on the stove.

Firefighters will remain on scene for some time, to ensure the fire is fully extinguished.

Drivers are urged to consider using Nicholson St, Harding St and Sydney Rd to return to Bell St and allow extra time through the area.