In St. Catharines Friday afternoon, a man went to visit a friend and was greeted by a fire ball.

Fire Chief Mark Mehlenbacher tells 610 CKTB News the man opened the back door of a bungalow on Union St near Pelham Rd &  Louth St & fire exploded out.

The man suffered what Mehlenbacher calls "pretty significant" burns to his arms & legs.

When crews arrived, the back of house was a-blaze with flames spreading to the neighbouring house.  The fire sent large clouds of black smoke up over the area & drew neighbours out onto their lawns to watch.

The fire is out now though firefighters are still on scene, with the Ontario Fire Marshal on the way.

Mehlenbacher doesn't believe anyone was inside the house when the fire started.  He doesn't know yet what may have caused the fire.