A two-storey house and three cars were destroyed by fire overnight while the youngest member of the house, a 13-year-old boy avoided tragedy when he alerted his siblings to escape a house fire in South Morang, Melbourne.

South Morang, 13th Jul 2014 – The Country Fire Authority (CFA) said the teenager alerted his family to the blaze in their home on Skyline Drive in South Morang about 4:30am (AEST).

The boy Adam Mastrilli, his two siblings and another two occupants were sleeping when the fire broke out in the Skyline Drive home around 4.30am. while their parents were away.

“The youngest member of the family was alerted by his night light going out to the smell of smoke within his house,” the CFA’s Nathan Shell said.

The teenager got up and notified his siblings and other householders to evacuate the house on fire.

Firefighters were called to the home to find the two-storey home well alight.

The house was extensively damaged while the firefighters team reached at the scene.

Unable to see through the thick smoke, the group, aged between 12 and 21, scaled a fence to escape the flames.

Forty firefighters battled the blaze but were unable to save the two-storey Skyline Drive house.

Alex’s parents were away in Lorne for the weekend when they received a panicked phone call.

Mum Sonia Mastrilli said the drive home was the longest in her life and she was sick with worry.

The home was destroyed and the CFA said the boy’s quick thinking saved five lives.

“They were extremely lucky the young fella has done a marvelous job to alert the rest of his family and he certainly has avoided a tragedy here tonight.”

It took crews more than three hours to bring the fire under control with the blaze extending across a number of levels in the two-storey brick home.

Six CFA trucks and support from Doreen, Epping, Mernda, South Morang and Sunbury attended as well as MFB.

The cause of the fire will be investigated.

Source: CFA News