FIREFIGHTERS used axes to cut through the floor of a twostorey house in their bid to put out a blaze in Upper Beaconsfield on Saturday night.
The fire started in the flue of a wood heater.
One person was home at the time of the fire.
A considerable amount of smoke damage was done to the house during the fire.
CFA units from Upper Beaconsfield, Beaconsfield and Berwick fought the blaze.
It took 15 firefighters about an hour to bring the fire under control.
Upper Beaconsfield CFA captain Graeme MacGowan said the incident served as a warning to residents to ensure their flues and chimneys were checked and cleaned.