Neighbours labelled the Morgan Street property a "drug lab" and said it was only visited every day or so.

Firefighters arrived at the scene at 2.46pm.

Five trucks attended at its peak.

A neighbour said the roof started smoking at around 2.30pm.

"There was smoking coming out and it got worse and worse," he said.

Even as the CFA succeeded in bringing the fire under control, the smoke still smelled of marijuana. 

Another witness, Peter Taipari, said firefighters had had to go through the front door because they could not break in through the roof. 

He said he came to the scene after seeing lots of white smoke.

"We thought it was a cloud, it was that big," he said.

Police and CIU detectives were on the scene as the fire was still being put out.

The other neighbour said he had last seen someone at the house two days ago.

His son John said they had picked the house as suspicious almost as soon as it changed hands in the first half of 2015.

"We knew something was up. This guy with a backpack would go in for 15-20 minutes and then leave," he said.

"It was definitely a drug lab."

The neighbour’s son said the curtains were always closed but noticed “they always put the bins out”.