KEY POINTS:
A 53-year-old Melbourne man who died in his burning home early today had called triple-0 (the equivalent of 111 in NZ) to say he couldn't escape through his locked front door.
The body of the man, believed to be Roland Nicholson, was found by firefighters in the front bedroom of the house in Sydney Road, Coburg North.
Firefighters had to force their way through the deadlocked front door of the house, but found the back door open.
Detective Senior Constable Adam Henry, of the arson squad, said the man had called triple-0 just before 4am (6am NZT).
"The male on the phone call indicated that he was in the fire and that he was trapped and couldn't get out," he said.
He said it appeared the fire had started in the front bedroom but the cause was still being investigated.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade northern region operations commander Ian Yates said the man lived on his own, there were no smoke detectors in the house, it was full of old boxes and the front door was deadlocked.
He urged people not to deadlock their doors while at home.
"We would like people to take notice of this and ensure that if they're going to have deadlocks, leave the key in the deadlock, you must be able to get out of the house as well as prevent people getting in, and have a properly operating smoke detector," he said.
"Our fire crews found the back door open ... but fire is a very funny thing and if the fire and the smoke was strong in the back of the house he would not have been able to get out via the back door."
The man's dog, a seven-year-old brown kelpie named Bill, escaped through the back door and is now being cared for at the Lost Dog's Home.
Frank Drever lived next to Mr Nicholson for 10 years and said he was a heavy smoker.
"I'd say that he was a good man and there's nothing more we can say," he said.
"God given, he's in heaven."
Mr Drever said Mr Nicholson's dog was his best friend and deserved to go to a good home.
"Bill ... he loved the dog better than he loved us," he said.
- AAP
