Young twins burned in garage explosion

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A neighbour has told of his desperate attempt to rescue twin four-year-old boys left fighting for their lives after a fire at a property in Melbourne's southeast.

Travis Graeske, 23, told ABC Radio that he rushed to the burning garage across the road from his house after seeing smoke billowing from the property.

"I could hear just rampant screaming for about two minutes so that was the point I was thinking: `Geez people are in here, we just have to do something to get them out'," Mr Graeske said.

He said the heat from the blaze made it impossible to immediately rush into the fire, and gas cylinders were exploding.

Mr Graeske said he still felt ill from the sight of the boys' mother bringing out one of her sons.

"There was just horrific burns all over his body, head to toe, covered, and skin peeling off.

"One of the next door neighbours grabbed him in her arms and rushed him to the tap and we just chucked as much water on him as we could and sat him there," he said.

When paramedics arrived, the twins were both placed in an induced coma to prevent their airways closing up.

One of the boys is thought to have burns to 70 to 80 per cent of his body, while his brother had burns to about 50 per cent of his body.

They were both rushed via separate helicopter ambulances to the Royal Children's Hospital where they remain in critical condition.

Local Country Fire Authority (CFA) operations officer Jimmy Dore said the two children were at their father's birthday celebration at their grandparents' home when the blaze broke out.

It is believed they were playing in the garage of the home when their clothes caught fire.

"The two children were playing in the rear of the garage when there was some sort of ignition source ... The roof of the garage caved in," Mr Dore said.

Intensive care flight paramedic Matthew Shepherd said one of the children's burns ranged from minor blistering to full thickness burns and they had a long, painful recovery ahead of them.

Another paramedic who attended, David Kervin, said he arrived to a "chaotic and very distressing scene".

"There were two children suffering severe burns, their father suffering minor burns and their mother was incredibly distressed," Mr Kervin said in a statement.

He said tubes were inserted into the boys to take over their breathing and they were each given a combination of drugs to sedate and paralyse them.

The boys' father, who suffered burns while trying to rescue his sons, was taken to the Dandenong Hospital but was discharged a few hours later.

- AAP