Barking dogs alert family to house fire

By Tania Martin
BARKING dogs last week alerted a Silvan family to a fire that was engulfing a vacant house nearby.
The house, in Schools Road, Silvan, was being used by the family as a storage facility after building a new home on the same block of land.
Silvan Fire Brigade captain Stewart Parker said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
He said shortly after 9.30pm Wednesday night the brigade was called to the house along with tankers from Monbulk and Mt Evelyn.
He said the Silvan brigade was in the area for its training night and was able to respond quickly to the fire call out.
“We were able to contain the fire to one room,” he said.
But the rest of the house was damaged by smoke, he said.
CFA operations manager John Athorn said the police arson squad was undertaking further investigations.
He said a forensic chemist had taken samples of the remains for further testing to help identify the cause.