Fire guts Exeter house
It is understood the fire started in the kitchen of the house as the occupants prepared the evening meal. The timber house was burnt to the ground.
The two occupants were able to escape the burning building, one running to their neighbours for help.
A neighbour, identifying herself only as Kathy, said her home was in the path of the wind-fanned flames.
"I just heard Betty come running out screaming "call 000 - fire"," she said.
At the height of the fire, flames reached 20m above the house and the wind was blowing them over a neighbouring residence.
"There was all these flames shooting out and we could hear bangs - something exploding," Kathy said
"The firefighters were fantastic - the first thing they did was put water on my house and they undoubtedly saved it.
"But the water kept cutting out on them.
"It would pour out really fast like you'd expect - then it'd just stop - then start to trickle again.
"But they (firefighters) did a fantastic job - they saved our house."
The MFS had to tap water main from nearby streets to obtaining sufficient water pressure to tackle the blaze.