The two children, aged 12 and 13, were arrested by police in the vicinity not long after the fire broke out and the two were “assisting police with their inquiries” late Monday afternoon.

Police were canvassing the area speaking to witnesses at the scene, as fire crews worked to extinguish the blaze, which was well alight when emergency crews arrived.

The house fire is the second fire in Kelso in less then a week, both of which have completely guttered the property.

Last week a house in Culnane Place was destroyed in a fire which police believe was deliberately lit, with children also believed to be responsible.

Crime manager with Chifley Local Area Command, Detective Inspector Luke Rankin, said while it was obviously alarming there was no connection between the two fires.

He said police are investigating and also working with other key stakeholders to address the situation.

Station officer Chris Saunders, from Bathurst Fire Station said emergency crews got the first of many Triple-0 calls just after 1.30pm to say the house in Miriyan Drive was alight.

“En-route we received numerous calls to the fire and as we approached we could see a large volume of dark smoke.”

Station officer Saunders said fire crews received information the house had been empty for some time, however he said there was always the concern homeless people could be squatting inside.

When fire crews arrived the fire was too intense to enter the building, and the roof had already collapsed, so fire fighter Saunders said crews concentrated on stopping the fire spreading to adjoining properties, which they did.

“It was a very good effort by our fire fighters, they contained the blaze very quickly,” Station Officer Saunders said.

He said the fact the roof had collapsed and there were holes in the floor meant it was too dangerous for crews to enter, so they hit the blaze externally with jets underneath to put it out.

“Thankfully there were no injuries,” he said.

Two pumps from Bathurst, along with a hazmat truck and a pumper from Kelso attended the blaze, along with police and paramedics.

“All up we had around 20 guys at the scene,” Station Officer Saunders said, adding fire crews remained at the scene for a couple of hours to contain and extinguish the fire.

“Everyone did a good job.”