'My house shook': Vic explosion kills man

Neighbours have described an explosion that sounded like a "bomb going off" before a bungalow fire that killed a man in Melbourne.

A man's body was found as firefighters searched the property in Thomastown after arriving at midnight to find the bungalow fully ablaze, MFB said on Thursday.

Fire crews got the blaze under control within half an hour but there was no chance to save the sole occupant.

It's understood the man's father lived in the main house.

The homeowner's son had been living in the bungalow since separating from his partner, the Herald Sun newspaper is reporting.

A witness said the explosion was so loud that it shook her house.

"With that kind of explosion it couldn't have just been a normal fire, maybe a chemical explosion, or a gas explosion," Giuliana Bilic told the Herald Sun.

A Victoria Police arson chemist is expected to arrive on scene on Thursday to investigate the fire's cause.