Video shows the blaze beginning as an orange glow in a room at the rear of the house, on Marshall St.

With the tenants away on holiday, the fire appears to go unnoticed for about 10 minutes, engulfing the house before firefighters arrive. 

Fire and Rescue NSW duty commander Andrew Erlik said 75 per cent of the home was ultimately destroyed in the blaze. 

“We were there within five minutes from the time of call, so for it to do 75 per cent of damage when we were on scene very, very rapidly – it’s obviously quite a severe fire,” he said. 

Units from Dapto, Albion Park, Warrawong, Unanderra and Wollongong attended. 

Police expect an electrical fault will be found to blame, however this remains under investigation. 

Sources have told the Mercury the home’s tenants – a family – has cut short their holiday to the Hunter region to deal with the fire’s aftermath. 

Inspector Erlik said little if anything would be salvaged. 

“They [the tenants] were away, so were not put at any risk,” he said. “But on the flip side, they’ve lost potentially everything. A lot of [the contents] would be damaged by smoke and heat as well.”