Family lucky to survive ‘nightmare’ house fire in Melbourne

A family and its two pets are lucky to be alive after a fierce blaze tore through a home in Melbourne's south-east overnight.

Emergency services were called to the home on Tauton Avenue in Oakleigh about 3am after a resident heard fire crackling from their veranda.

Homeowner Simon Dehne attempted to grab a hose but said the fire quickly spread through the weatherboard house.

Within minutes the home was engulfed in flames.

"We just stood back and then the breeze picked up and it got bigger, and it got very high, so scary," Dehne said.

The family of four has lived at the property for more than 30 years.

Two other homes were damaged – one significantly – after the flames spread, but no one was injured.

Kiren Kommineni, who lives nearby, described the fire as a "nightmare".

"It's terrible," he said.

"Even the owners and neighbours, everyone (was) running around (trying) to see what's happening."

Fire investigators are working to determine how the blaze was sparked but the cause is not being treated as suspicious.

"It turns your life upside down, doesn't it? You don't know what you've got until you lose everything," Dehne said.