House fire in Sydney's inner-west kills man who re-entered home to fight blaze

A man in his 50s who escaped a house fire with his mother in Sydney's inner-west before re-entering the home to fight the blaze has been found dead.

The man was in the Rodd Point home with his 82-year-old mother when the roof caught fire about 2:30am today.

He woke her and helped her out of the house, but — in what firefighters said was a "timely reminder" not to enter buildings on fire — he re-entered the home and firefighters later found him dead.

Fire and Rescue NSW officers are on the scene this morning and have sent in a drone to assess the damage.

They said they would be at the scene for most of the morning.

Inspector Graeme Moore Fire and Rescue described the blaze as a "fierce".

"[The man's death is] a timely reminder that … once you're outside, whatever you do, don't go back in," he said.

It is still not clear how the fire started but detectives will enter the property later today.