FLAMES have destroyed a Kelso home, with firefighters fighting for an hour to bring the fire under control.
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Fire and Rescue NSW was called to the house fire on the corner of View Street and McMenamin Place around 3pm on Saturday, August 5, where the home was found ablaze.
Everyone had been evacuated from the home by the time emergency crews arrived, but it took firefighters almost an hour to get it under control.
Station Officer at Bathurst Fire Station, Doug Fisk, said investigations remain ongoing into the cause of the fire.
"There has been severe damage to the house. It looks as if it's completely damaged inside," he said.
"The occupant has been woken up to it alight and he evacuated he's family. Unfortunately the fire took hold.
"The fire spread up into the roof. When it happens, it usually leads to a fair bit of damage and we need to pull a lot of ceiling down to extinguish the fire."
Firefighter Fisk said it's also likely that asbestos was in the house.
"Looking at the age of the house, it's likely the eaves were full of asbestos," he said.
Crews from both the Bathurst and Kelso fire stations attended the scene, with five trucks in total, which included a hazmat van to help deal with the asbestos and rehab for the crews.
Police and ambulance were at the scene by the time firefighters arrived. Gas had been turned off by the authorities.
Firefighter Fisk reminded the community to make sure it has smoke alarms and that they are operating adequately.
"It's incidents like this, that they do save lives," he said.
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