An early-morning fire in a Roxburgh house yesterday burned through the floor to the basement, only metres from a large stack of firewood.
Roxburgh chief fire officer David Rooney said two crews attended the blaze, just after 2am. It had started somewhere near an open fire in the living room. The only occupant, an elderly woman, woke to a smoke-filled house.
The cause of the fire had yet to be determined. Carpet in front of the open fire caught alight and the blaze burned through to the basement, only a couple of metres from the firewood.
"It was very lucky the lady woke up when she did and lucky the fire didn't spread into that firewood," Mr Rooney said.
When the fire crews arrived, the smoke alarms were going.
The house was smoke-damaged, he said.
