Cause of Gunnedah housefire in Linden Place still unknown but not believed to be suspicious

Forensics spent much of Wednesday morning examining the aftermath of the Linden Place housefire after the blaze ripped through on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Gunnedah Police Acting Inspector Damien Brown there "appears to be no suspicious circumstances".

Acting Inspector Brown said the fire "occurred in the roof line", but police and firefighters "don't know how it's occurred".

"There's no deliberate cause that we can determine, so it could be a number of factors, such as an electrical fault," he told ACM.

"Crime scene have finished, so the property will be handed back to the owners."

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The fire took hold of the home at about 4pm on Tuesday, where "an incredible amount of smoke was seen emanating" from the brick residence, firefighters said.

This smoke spread over Linden Place, into Lincoln Street and onto the golf course.

Fire and Rescue NSW Gunnedah firefighter Andrew Johns said it took a few hours to control, but crews managed to save a few items from being destroyed.

"We were able to save a historic World War II motorcycle and the car which was at least some consolation for the poor owners," he said.

"[The motorcycle] was lovingly restored. The owner didn't tell us about it, one of the crew noticed it out the back and they were able to keep the fire away from it."

He said it was one of the smokiest fires the Gunnedah crew had experienced.

"Crews in breathing apparatus got to work fighting the fire defensively due to the ferocity of the fire," Mr Johns said.

The firefighter noted that many "rubber neckers" came past the scene to "sticky beak", which hindered emergency services in their duties.

"I get people are curious but the truck will roll with the first four [firies] that are available and then obviously you require more than four to five firies to contain a fire like that, so the others grabbed their gear and followed in other vehicles, but they were hindered by streams of traffic having a look," he said.

"It's very very frustrating when you're trying to get to a job in a hurry when people are just trying to have a sticky beak.

"The best thing you can do in a situation such as this, is to stay away and let emergency services do their job. Delaying our arrival has the potential to have tragic outcomes."

Mr Johns thanked his fellow emergency services, including the RFS, police and paramedics, for their continual assistance with incidents like this one.

The Linden Place fire is the fourth housefire within a month, following fires in Herbert Street, Little Conadilly Street, and High Street.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au