The regional city of Orange will “wrap its arms” around a family after a house fire that took the life of a mother and led to the hospitalisation of a father and two young boys, the local mayor says.
Early Saturday morning, emergency services were called to the home in Orange, in the central tablelands region, and found it engulfed in flames.
The father was located outside but suffered burns when trying to re-enter the home and rescue his wife and two sons, aged nine and 10, police said.
Local firefighters entered the building minutes after receiving triple zero calls and were able to free the children, who were suffering from smoke inhalation.
After the fire was extinguished, the mother was discovered in the front room of the house but could not be revived and died at the scene.
The children were provided with emergency medical care by firefighters and police until paramedics arrived. They were then transported to Orange Base hospital, while one child was later flown to Sydney for further treatment.
The 10-year-old boy remained in a critical condition at Westmead children’s hospital on Saturday afternoon.
A crime scene has been established, and inquiries were underway, but the cause of the blaze still hadn’t been determined late on Saturday afternoon, police said.
Firefighters from the investigation and research unit, police forensics officers and an ignitable liquid detection dog (K9,) were attending the scene to investigate where and how the fire started.
Acting superintendent Dane Philippe provided an update on Saturday morning.He said Fire Rescue NSW received phone calls reporting the house fire at about 5.45am and crews arrived on the scene within six minutes.
While they were able to rescue the two children, he said the woman was “unable to be saved”.
Superintendent Adam Dewberry said he was unable to comment on the details around the fire but urged people to make sure they had working smoke alarms fitted in their homes that were less than ten years old.
“This is a tragedy that will be fully investigated,” he said.
Jason Hamling, the mayor of Orange, said news of the fire was “devastating” and while he was yet to receive personal details of the family members, it would be a tough time for the community.
“Anything that involves a family and fatal accident like this is devastating,” he said. “But Orange will wrap their arms around them.
“We’re such a heartwarming community, when they are back on their feet Orange will rally to help.”
