Firefighters battle Echuca house blaze

"I was first on scene and the house was fully involved from the roof. It was pretty intense," Bamawm Extension CFA captain George Calleja said.

"The occupants weren't inside at the time. They heard about it and came back but they couldn't get back in.

"I turned the gas off and the firefighters starting putting the fire out, but the house has started to collapse inside itself.

"It's still going but it looks like the house will be gutted."

Mr Calleja said a fire investigator was on scene but the weatherboard house was not safe enough to enter.

"It's not suspicious but we don't know how it started at this stage," he said.

People believed to be the occupants could be seen outside the property visibly upset.

Mr Calleja praised the response time by all brigades.