A FIRE has destroyed a shed and caused the evacuation of a street in West Griffith.
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The blaze erupted in a shed on Erskine Road at around 5.30pm on Tuesday.
Griffith fire crews managed to extinguish the fire before it could spread to neighbouring homes, but home-owner Wayne Campbell said thousands of dollars worth of tools had been destroyed in his shed.
"I had two generators in the shed and two quad bikes," the father-of-three said. "All my fishing and camping gear was also in the shed and lots of tools like a chain saw and a stick welder."
Mr Campbell said he had worked in the shed before leaving his home to retrieve yabbie nets on Tuesday afternoon.
"I used the grinder to cut some mash," the truck driver said. "I sat it (the grinder) on a length of timber - and it looks like the timber started smouldering when I left the house."
Mr Campbell's brother and his son, who happened to drive through West Griffith at the time, notice smoked and informed fire fighters and police.
"They saw smoke coming from the area where my house is and wondered whether it was my place," Mr Campbell said.
"The timber must have been smouldering away before something ignited."
Family members and neighbours acted quickly, pushing a car and a trailer out of the carport next to the shed, and using garden hoses in a bid to contain the flames.
But by the time local fire fighters arrived the shed was well alight, Griffith fire station captain Kevin Roth said.
"We had two crews in breathing apparatuses fight the fire," Mr Roth said.
The experienced fire fighter said in the process of extinguishing the blaze his crews found a large welding gas bottle.
"You can't muck around with things when there's gas involved," he said.
"If it goes off, it can kill someone."
A 200 metre exclusion zone was set up around the house while fire fighters cooled down the gas cylinder for precaution.
A nearby nursing home was in lockdown for about 45 minutes.
Fire fighters said explosion that were heard by neighbours were most likely caused by exploding quad bike tyres and were not gas-related.
Only five years ago the house adjacent to the shed was completely destroyed in a blaze.
Mr Campbell said he had owned the property for 19 years and had rebuilt the family home, when an electrical fault in the kitchen set the stove on fire and burnt down his home.