A COORANBONG couple were lucky to escape a raging house fire that gutted their home in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the blaze that took hold in a single-storey weatherboard home in Victory Street about 5am.
A man suffered burns while his wife had to be treated by paramedics, Fire and Rescue NSW said.
Their son, who was not home at the time of the blaze, was initially treated as "unaccounted for" by firefighters but was later located safe and well.
Neighbour David Baker said his partner woke to someone next door screaming "help, help" and saw a red glow inside the house.
"By the time I had moved the cars out of the driveway the flames were coming through the window," Mr Baker said. "That is how quick it came on."
Mr Baker's house had been licked by flames, but more than a dozen fire crews from across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast managed to get control of the blaze and save the house.
"If my partner hadn't woken up when she did... the fire brigade told me another few minutes and then my house would have been gone."
Firefighters said they used an aerial platform to fight the flames, which jumped 10 metres in the air and produced a huge pall of smoke.
As the fire raged out of control, authorities evacuated a number of nearby homes and firefighters were forced to take a defensive stance as the home was destroyed.
Fire investigators spent much of Sunday raking through the remains of the property in a bid to determine the cause of the blaze.
