Princes Town firefighters save home from bush fire, 'antique' cars perish

A quick response from Princes Town firefighters prevented a bushfire in Princes Town from spreading to a nearby house at Bonanza Street on Wednesday afternoon.

However, the fire spread to a property, destroying five cars that the owner, who gave his name only as Sarwan, described as antiques.

The non-functional cars were parked in the yard, and Sarwan estimated the damage to be between $300,000 and $350,000.

Fire officials, however, referred to the cars and other items in the yard as derelict.

While Sarwan was not home when the fire broke out, he said his 82-year-old mother and their 30 dogs were home.

There were no reports of injury.

He said he got a call at 2.10 pm and immediately went home.

"I also lost the garage, although the wood was old. I lost building materials, equipment for welding, and books that I had collected from way back in the 1960s.

"I accept my loss and that is it," Sarwan said.

He said the owner of the vacant property where the fire started recently died.

Considering there had been many bushfires over the years, Sarwan said he often cut the bushes at the back of his property into the neighbour's land.

He added that by doing that, he was accused of trespassing and there was a rift between him and the now-deceased owner.

"Even if it is not my property at the back, I maintain a distance. I cut the back recently, but the volume of fire was too much."

Investigations are ongoing.