UPDATE: Police Calling for Public Assistance, as Muswellbrook Home is Set on Fire Twice in a Week

BY ISABEL EVERETT

Police are appealing for public assistance after a Muswellbrook home was targeted in two suspicious blazes in the past week.

Around 4.30am on Saturday the 7th of March and 5.00am on Tuesday the 10th of March, NSW Fire and Rescue crews were called to a home on Bligh Street in Muswellbrook.

On Tuesday morning, neighbors contacted emergency services when they saw the home was fully engulfed in flames.

The home was vacant on both occasions, with the building now completely destroyed.

Police are appealing for anyone who may have heard or witnessed any suspicious activity in the area in the early hours of either Saturday the 7th or Tuesday 10 March to contact Muswellbrook Police on 6542 6999 or to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

BREAKING! Firefighters Battling House Fire at Mayfield

BY MADELAINE MCNEILL

Fire crews are battling a house fire at Corona Street in Mayfield.

Nearby residents alerted emergency services to the blaze just before 2 o'clock and six fire crews have been called to the scene.

Newcastle Fire and Rescue reports nobody is trapped inside the building.

Firefighters are inside the building working to find the seat of the fire.

Firefighters on scene at the blaze

House Up In Flames At Mannering Park

BY IAN CROUCH

Fire has engulfed a home at Mannering Park this morning.

NSW Fire & Rescue and RFS crews were called to the single story fibro home on Barclay Avenue just after 3.00am to find the house well alight.

Newcastle Fire Command says all occupants have been accounted for.

Firefighters have been hampered by the presence of asbestos, while part of the roof has collapsed.

The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, but it's not thought to be suspicious.

House Destroyed By Fire At Woodberry

BY IAN CROUCH

Fire has destroyed a home at Woodberry overnight.

Six fire trucks from Minmi, Tarro, Mayfield West and East Maitland were called to the single storey weatherboard and tile home on Tahlee Avenue just after 2.00am on Friday to find the unoccupied and boarded-up house engulfed in flames.

It's taken about 40 minutes to bring the fire under control, with crews wrapping up at the scene just before 4 o'clock.

Police are treating the fire as suspicious.

Police Investigate Singleton House Fire

BY IAN CROUCH

Hunter Valley police are investigating the cause of a fire which severely damaged a home at Singleton.

Four fire trucks from Singleton, Branxton and a Support Vehicle from Newcastle were called to the single storey timber and iron home in Bourke Street just before 12.30am on Tuesday to find the house well alight and flames through the roof.

Two occupants managed to self-evacuate without injury.

It's taken more than an hour to bring the blaze under control, with crews mopping up hot spots until just before 3.00am.

Father And Three Children Treated For Smoke Inhaltion At Anna Bay

BY IAN CROUCH

A father and his three young children have been treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at their Anna Bay home last night.

The 32-year-old man was taking a shower in their Nelson Bay Road home at about 9pm when a smoke alarm went off.

He rushed out of the shower to find thick smoke in the bedroom of his 1-year-old daughter and managed to rescue her.

The man called out to his father-in-law in an adjacent house to come and help and they removed his other two children aged 3 and 5.

The two men managed to put out the fire with an extinguisher and a garden hose before fire crews arrived.

It's believed an electrical fault in a lamp sitting on a change table sparked the blaze, which caused only minor damage to the home.

Woman Rescued From Burning Home At Woodberry

BY IAN CROUCH

Firefighters have rescued a woman from her burning home at Woodberry overnight.

Emergency Services were called to a single level hardiplank home on Woodberry Road just before 1.30am on Monday to find the house well alight.

Newcastle Fire Command says a woman was removed from the burning building and treated at the scene by paramedics but refused to go hospital.

It's taken almost 3 hours to extinguish and mop up the fire which is believed to have started in the kitchen.

Aberdeen House Destroyed In Suspicious Fire

BY IAN CROUCH

Fire has destroyed a home at Aberdeen in the Upper Hunter overnight.

Firefighters from Aberdeen, Scone and Muswellbrook were called to the 3 bedroom timber cottage on Gundebri Street just before 12.30am on Wednesday to find the house engulfed in flames.

No-one was home at the time.

It's taken 3 hours for crews to extinguish and mop up the fire which is being treated as suspicious.

Electrical fault sparked Shortland cottage fire

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

Fire has caused severe damage to a small cottage at Shortland this morning.

Firefighters from Wallsend, Lambton and Mayfield West were called to the home on Sandgate Road just before 8:30 to find the bathroom engulfed in flames.

It's taken about an hour to extinguish the fire, with the rest of the house damaged by smoke and water.

One occupant was treated at the scene for minor burns.

It's believed an electrical fault sparked the blaze.

Police Investigate Suspicious Fire At Bobs Farm

BY IAN CROUCH

A fire which destroyed a vacant house at Bobs Farm this morning is being treated as suspicious.

Newcastle Fire Command received several calls to the single storey weatherboard and iron cottage on Nelson Bay Road just before 3.00am, arriving to find the house fully involved in fire.

Six crews took an hour to douse the flames.

It appears a pile of tyres had been set alight, leading police to believe the fire was the work of an arsonist.

Police say Thornton house fire was deliberate

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Police believe a fire which destroyed a home in Thornton over the weekend was deliberately lit.

Firefighters were called to the home on Singleton Avenue at about 2:50am on Saturday morning where they found the home well alight. 

It took 25 firefighters to extinguish the blaze from four different fire stations.

Six people who were inside were lucky to escape including a man, a woman and their children. Four of the occupants were taken to Maitland Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Police are urging anyone with information to come forward as investigations continue.

Image supplied to Maitland Mercury

Man charged over Waratah house fire

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Police have arrested a man accused of deliberately lighting a fire at a Waratah home last month.

At about 6:15am on Sunday 14th May, police were called to a home which was well alight on Ada Street.

The fire was extinguished by Fire and Rescue NSW, but the property sustained significant damage as a result.

No one was at home at the time.

After investigations officers arrested a 31-year-old man yesterday and charged him with malicious damage by x2.

The man was refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court today.

Seaham house fire

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

A couple in Seaham were awoken by their smoke alarm overnight, as fire took hold of their property.

Rural Fire Service crews were called to the property on Seaham Road just after midnight to find a fire in the roof cavity.

It took more than two hours to extinguish the blaze which caused severe damage to the home.

The couple who live there managed to escape without injury.

House Fire at Glendale

BY GEORGIA LUPTON

A home has been severely damaged after a house fire in Glendale in the early hours of this morning.

Four fire units from Holmesville, Mayfield, Minmi and Cardiff attended the scene after they received the triple zero call at 3:04 this morning.

The two occupants of the house escaped the blaze without injury before fire crews arrived at 3:14am, however, five pet dogs were found deceased in the property.

The fire was extinguished at 3:25am.

Around 50% of the property is estimated to have received damage from fire, water and smoke.

Fire crews will today investigate the cause of the blaze and determine whether any suspicious circumstances surround the incident.

BREAKING! Waterfront Home At Belmont Destroyed By Fire

BY IAN CROUCH

Fire has guttered a waterfront home at Belmont this morning.

7 fire trucks were called to the 2 storey weatherboard home in Walter Street just after 4.00am to find the house engulfed in flames.

It's taken about half an hour to knock down the flames

It's understood the house has been unoccupied for some time.

4 crews are still at the scene mopping up.

Forensic investigators will comb through the rubble once the scene been declared safe.

Also this morning, fire has destroyed a double garage at the front of a home on Ocean Street Dudley.

No-one was injured in either blaze.