Three children are dead and their father is in custody after a house fire in Sydney’s west, in what police are treating as a domestic-related multiple homicide.
Emergency services were called to the home in Lalor Park at 1am on Sunday, which acting Supt Jason Pietruszka said was “engulfed by flames” on arrival.
Two boys, aged three and six, were taken to Westmead hospital in a critical condition but died a short time later.
The body of the third child, a five-month-old girl, was found after Fire and Rescue NSW extinguished the fire.
A nine-year-old girl and three boys aged 11, seven and four were treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics and have been taken to Westmead hospital in stable conditions.
The children’s mother, 29, has been taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
They were all expected to make a full recovery, police said.
Det Supt Danny Doherty described the circumstances as “incredibly tragic”. He alleged that a 28-year-old man arrested at the scene attempted to prevent police and emergency services from rescuing those inside the home.
The man is the father of the deceased children, police confirmed.
“We’ve seen three young lives taken away in the most tragic of circumstances and it’s quite unimaginable how the family are coping with this at the moment,” Doherty told reporters on Sunday morning. “They will get the proper support in relation to this terrible matter.”
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, described the alleged incident as “horrifying and senseless”.
“These children deserved love and protection and a caring home,” he said in a statement on Sunday afternoon. “Our love and thoughts are with the surviving family members.
“NSW will support them for as long as necessary, as they seek to recover from this unfathomable event.”
Minns said his thoughts were also with the first responders, who will “also be recovering in their own way after a horrible night”.
The father, who was arrested at the scene, was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital under police guard. He is in an induced coma.
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The man is not adversely known to police, before the court for any other matter and there is no AVO, police said.
Doherty said it was still early in the investigation, but “at this stage it does appear that the 28-year-old man is responsible for multiple deaths of young lives that have been tragically taken away”.
Pietruszka said that police’s efforts to enter the property were “frustrated” by the 28-year-old man. Doherty alleged his actions were “intentional of keeping police and other responders and neighbours out of the property while it was on fire … with the intention of keeping the kids inside the premises while the fire was happening”.
Police said a neighbour attempted to assist and was “quite heroic in what they did”, with their actions saving further lives from being lost.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Doherty said the circumstances of the incident were “really extraordinary” but acknowledged a “spate” of alleged domestic violence-related deaths in recent times.
“We hope that the community come together and galvanise and help the family and the friends of the ones who lost their lives,” Doherty said.
This story was updated on 11 July 2024 to correct the ages of the children based on updated information from police.
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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 988 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org