Man fled backyard of burning SA home

A man has been arrested for allegedly being in the backyard of a burning Adelaide home when he should not have been there.

The Wingfield man was found at the Mansfield Park property when emergency services arrived to control a fire there on Thursday morning, police say.

The 55-year-old tried to flee on a push bike but was caught by police nearby and charged with unlawfully being on premises, indecent behaviour and hindering police.

The cause of the blaze, which has badly damaged the house, is not yet known but the property is believed to be vacant and nobody was inside it at the time.