Firefighters say a bathroom exhaust fan was the case of the blaze, which tore through the home on Haverbrack Avenue in Malvern about 10pm on Saturday night.

Fire crews arrived to find the second storey of the home well alight.

Nobody was home at the time of the fire, but firefighters were able to save a number of precious items including photo albums.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade acting chief officer Greg Leach praised firefighters for their efforts.

"Great job by crews in Malvern overnight to not only extinguish the fire but help reduce the emotional toll," he said via Twitter.

More than 20 firefighters took 30 minutes to bring the fire under control and another hour to fully extinguish it.

Fire Investigators remained at the scene on Sunday morning to investigate the cause of the blaze.