The man claims he was locked out of his own home when a squatter invited local teens to a wild party at the Johnston Street residence.

Fire crews took close to an hour to control the fire, which gutted the property.

A tenant named Gareth said he invited a person to share the house he was renting.

Gareth said he left for the day and then was unable to get back into the property. 

The squatter, meanwhile, invited a group of teenagers for a party.

Gareth claimed it took five visits from the police to evict them and house was later destroyed by fire.

Wagga crime manager Inspector Darren Cloake confirmed several young people were moved on from the property on Tuesday.

“Officers spoke to a number of youth from a nearby refuge who were making use of the property at the time,” Inspector Cloake said.

He said one of the tenants of the property was in hospital but not because of the fire.

Inspector Cloake said the cause of fire had not been determined.

Initial examinations of the property suggested the fire began in the rear of the house, which was separated into two units.

Firefighters were called to the Johnston Street house at 7pm on Tuesday.

Taking a little under an hour to extinguish, Wagga firies were on scene until 10.40pm before handing control over to police.

Turvey Park station commander Geoff Edwards said no entry was made to the premises due to extensive damage.

“We couldn’t get inside because of the structural damage,” Mr Edwards said.

The roof had collapsed and much of the floor of the property has been burned away – exposing bearings and joints.

Mr Edwards said the closest property was just three metres away from the burning building connected by an awning.

The neighbouring building suffered heat damage but firefighters prevented the fire spreading to units behind the property.

Mr Edwards praised the actions of one Johnston Street resident who located a fire hydrant on the road as firefighters arrived.

“It can be difficult to find a hydrant in the dark if it’s covered by a car or tree,” he said.

“It makes a tangible difference for us.”

A neighbour said they heard nothing before their dog began barking, thinking it might have been an intruder in the backyard they went outside to find the neighbouring property engulfed by fire.

Earlier at 6.50pm another neighbour returned from town heard what were thought to be crackers only to see the property across the street on fire.

More to come.