A FAMILY and their pet dogs narrowly escaped a house fire overnight, with the children evacuated "butt naked" from the burning building.
Fire and Rescue NSW crews were called to a house on McKendry Drive at Cameron Park at 6.30pm where they found the structure well alight.
The electrical fire, which started in the dryer, engulfed the double garage of the property before moving into the two-storey home.
"My partner had to get the neighbour to help evacuate the four kids butt naked out the front because the whole house was full of smoke," the resident, Daniel Stevens, told the Newcastle Herald.
"We got very lucky, our neighbour from across the road came and helped us evacuate and rugged all the kids up because they where in the shower when it started.
"Very scary situation."
A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesperson said the fire caused major smoke damage throughout the brick house after spreading through a staircase.
Seven Fire and Rescue NSW appliances and the Rural Fire Service fought the fire and brought it under control before 7pm.
Scott Harper, who lived across the road in McKendry Street, said Mr Stevens' partner Sienna Page knocked on his door "in hysterics" saying the dryer had caught fire on Monday night.
Mr Harper raced across the street with Ms Page and went into the burning home and retrieved the four kids - all aged under five - from the bathroom and helped get them to safety.
He then turned off the power supply to the property.
"There was black smoke coming out of [the house] pretty hard," Mr Harper told the Herald.
"Flames did start to lick out of the garage. There was lots of smoke."
While two dogs were in the yard at the time of the fire, one of their dogs was missing inside the building. Luckily the pet pooch was found and survived the blaze.
"Thankyou to everyone that came and helped last night, we have lost absolutely everything due to the dryer catching fire," Mr Stevens said.
"Everything we own is burnt, covered in black and ruined."
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the family.
To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.
