The Heriot Volunteer Fire Brigade was finishing up a rural fire training session at the station only 400m away when the 111 call came in about 10.10pm.
Instead of a five- to seven-minute turnaround for the brigade, six of the crew left the station almost immediately, chief fire officer Tim Kempthorne said. The response time likely saved the house, he said.
''It was good news that we were all there, we got there in record time and saved the house,'' he said.
''It was fairly well involved.''
Fire gutted a bedroom at the back of the house and spread to the ceiling before crews from Heriot and Tapanui extinguished the flames.
When the property owner, who asked not to be named, arrived on Tuesday night she checked on those who lived in outbuildings on the property.
She checked the vehicle of the person who lived in the back bedroom - the only room in the house that was occupied - and discovered he was not present.
However due to the initial concerns there was someone in the house two members of the Heriot crew and two firefighters from Tapanui entered the house wearing breathing apparatus to ensure the house was empty, a fire service spokesman said.
The owner said it was fortunate the doors inside the house were all closed at the time of the fire, which prevented the spread of the fire. The house was insured.
Fire Risk Management Officer Stuart Ide said the cause of the fire could not immediately be determined.
All he could say yesterday was the investigation was ongoing.
A neighbour who had returned home about 20 minutes earlier said she heard a ''bang'' and looked outside to see flames outside of the shearers' quarters back bedroom.
She sent her nephew next door to check on the people who lived at the property and went outside to call 111.
The fire service spokesman said multiple emergency calls were made on Tuesday night and due to the initial report a person had been inside, an ambulance was sent.
