Emergency services were alerted to the house fire on Charlton Rd at 3.23pm which neighbour Amanda Bruin said was caused by "oil on the stove".
She said her husband first noticed the blaze and then a person running out saying, "It’s a fire, it’s a fire."
The home’s occupants, a mother and her young son, ran from the house and told Mrs Bruin the woman had been cooking sausages for her son.
Fire began on the other side of the house and the little chimney that goes from the extractor fan fell in, she said.
"It burnt and then just came tumbling down," she said.
Fire Protection Compliance Ltd technician JP Le Grange said his company does not service houses, but he happened to be nearby and was first on the scene with a fire extinguisher.
He said firefighters had punctured holes in the house’s ceiling in order to get the fire under control.
Ms Bruin’s husband JP Bruin, who also entered the home with a fire extinguisher, said he saw some of the ceiling was melted by the flames.
Ms Bruin said the boy wanted to run back inside to get his cat.
