Screaming with fear as fire roared towards his house, Jamie Conlon felt he had only one option - to run.
His car wouldn't start, so the 18-year-old, who was home alone and wearing no shoes or shirt, sprinted down the driveway.
As fire ran through grass on either side of the dirt road in Warrandyte, Conlon thought he was going to die.
"I just saw the end and that's where I was going," he told AAP.
"I didn't stop to look. I just sprinted.
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"I thought I was dead.
"I was just screaming. I was terrified."
Neighbours picked up Conlon and drove him to safety, but he assumed his house was gone.
Conlon's parents and his seven siblings had gone to church, leaving the teenager in bed.
His mother Vicki took a call from him saying the house was gone.
But neighbours later called them to say the house was OK.
Fire had pulled up centimetres from the home.
The edge of the house was blackened and a children's bike nearby was partially burned.
Their next-door neighbours were not so lucky, as little remains of their house.
A pool and tennis court survived the fire, while a burnt television was still attached to a brick wall connected to a chimney.
Despite the devastation in his street and his lucky escape, Conlon still didn't get the day off school.
The year 12 student returned to school late Monday morning.
