mmg.com.au

A house fire in Elmore on Friday is being treated as suspicious.

The fire began on the front veranda of Suzanne and John Williams’ Harvey Rd home while they were in the back garden.

Their neighbour, Matt Higgins, was passing by when he saw a fire at the left corner of the house.

‘‘It looked like the fire was coming from inside the house,’’ he said.

‘‘I grabbed the hose and tried to quench it.’’

Mr Higgins said he noticed smoke and ‘‘redness’’ coming from behind the wall and a plastic bucket on the veranda was on fire.

Mr Higgins alerted Mr Williams to the fire and helped him extinguish it before the Elmore Fire Brigade arrived.

The corner of the weatherboard house was severely damaged but there was minimal damage on the inside of the house.

Elmore’s Senior Constable Dave Rowland said several possible reasons for the fire were ruled out but two possible causes were identified.

‘‘The obvious choice is that an external source started it in the pot plant,’’ he said.

He said it was either started by a person or due to spontaneous combustion of the potting mix.

Mrs Williams said she initially thought it was an electrical fault as there was a plug in the corner of the bedroom but there were no electrical appliances on in the room.

Sen. Constable Rowland said fire captain Bob Simpson ruled out the possibility of an electrical fault.

He said investigations would continue.