"My kid has a fascination with fire,'' Cassandra Scheibel said as she and the youngster gazed balefully at the blackened ruin in O'Toole Street that had been their home for the past six years.

"I’ve seen big fires on television,'' was the young boy's response as he snuggled up close to his mother.

When Mrs Scheibel fell asleep in the loungeroom yesterday morning, her son and his two-year-old brother were playing happily nearby.

She told how she awoke to hear screaming – and saw their house on fire.

"It seemed like all the rooms were burning,'' Mrs Scheibel said.

"First, I grabbed the two boys and ran outside with them.

"Then I dashed back inside and tried to put the flames out - but I couldn't.

"I picked up a big glass bowl and filled it with water.

"Then I threw it into the flames.

"But I could see anything I tried to do would be useless.

"The fire had taken hold and clouds of smoke were getting thicker.

"My son told me he had picked up a cigarette lighter and had used it to light the fire."

Mrs Scheibel said she walked over the road and sat in the gutter with her two boys as their house burned.

Fire officers were soon

on the scene and they they

extinguished the blaze wearing breathing apparatus.

"The house was well alight when we arrived but the occupants, a woman and her two children, had left and they were not hurt,'' Deputy Fire Captain Paul Barrass said.

"It appears the seat of the fire was one of the front rooms and our investigations are continuing."

Neighbours were clubbing together late yesterday to see how they could support Mrs Scheibel, her two boys and two other children who were not at home when the fire broke out.

"We feel so sorry for Cassandra – her family have lost all everything they once had,'' said one neighbour.