Police have praised the efforts of two neighbours who swam across a river to rescue a woman in her 80s from a house fire in south-west Victoria overnight.
Sergeant Craig Jenkins, of Cobden police, said the farmhouse was destroyed by the blaze, which broke out about 8pm yesterday at Curdievale, near the Twelve Apostles.
Seven CFA tankers and three support units worked to extinguish the fire within about an hour.
The woman, who was home at the time, was treated by paramedics and was uninjured.
Investigators are at the scene to work out the cause of the fire.
Brave neighbours praised
Sergeant Jenkins said the woman was home when the fire broke out and called people living nearby for help.
He said swimming across the river was the quickest way for the pair to reach their neighbour in distress.
Sergeant Jenkins said the timber farmhouse was burnt "to the ground", with essentially nothing able to be salvaged.
Excavators will be on site, along with fire investigators and members of Victoria Police.
More to come.
