UPDATE - 10.20am
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An elderly man was injured during a lucky escape from a fire that extensively damaged his Wagga home on Thursday morning.
Fire and Rescue NSW, Rural Fire Service, ambulances and police were called to the scene on Simpson Avenue in Forest Hill at 8.17am.
RFS operations officer Bradley Stewart said Triple Zero received eight calls about the house fire, which might have been sparked by an unattended cigarette in an ashtray.
"We have got a three bedroom, single bathroom structure with one level and a single occupant, an elderly gentleman.
"Unfortunately, a cigarette has been the cause of this fire that has extensively damaged this house.
"The homeowner has accumulated a few items in and around the house and the fire, once it left that room, has quickly evolved and spread around the structure.
"The occupant [has] been treated by the NSW Ambulance Service and he appears to be in good spirits."
Mr Stewart said fire investigators would examine the scene to confirm the cause of the fire.
"The homeowner believes that it was a cigarette that had not been properly extinguished," Mr Stewart said.
"The firefighters were very quick on scene; we have a local RFS brigade here for Forest Hill.
"We also dispatched units from Glenfield, Lake Albert and Ladysmith rural fire brigades.
"We also called upon the services of Fire and Rescue NSW, who dispatched from 472 Turvey Park and 480 The Esplanade. Obviously we have a very good relationship with those guys and we got together and in very quick short work brought the fire to s satisfactory situation."
Mr Stewart said the incident was a testament to the need to have smoke detectors and check them regularly.
"People who choose to smoke within the home need to make sure they regularly clear out their ashtrays and adequately dispose of those contents to make sure there is no burning material left," he said.
One resident of a nearby house said he raced home from work after being mistakenly told it was his property that caught fire.
Earlier - 9am
A home has gone up in flames in Wagga's eastern suburbs on Thursday morning.
Emergency services are at the scene of the house fire in Forest Hill, where firefighters are battling a fire inside a brick home in Simpson Street.
A man is being assessed by paramedics at the scene.
The smoke plume from the fire is visible right across the city, with reports of it being spotted kilometres away at Dunns Road.
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews from the Wagga brigade have been joined by a team from the Rural Fire Service in tackling the fire.
The Turvey Park brigade is also in attendance and there have been no reported injuries as yet, FRNSW Superintendent Stewart Alexander said.
Firefighters have donned breathing apparatus and are preparing to enter the home.
Police are also in attendance.