Following a home fire in Sydney’s west, a man has died, and an elderly woman is in critical condition.
On Tuesday, soon after 5 a.m., emergency personnel were summoned to a residence near Blacktown, where they discovered it completely engulfed in flames.
Firefighters managed to free a man and woman who were trapped inside, however the man passed away at the site despite frantic attempts to save him.
He has not yet been officially recognized, although it is thought that he is in his 60s.
The elderly woman, who was in severe condition, was taken by ambulance to Westmead Hospital.
At the scene, another victim was attended to.
Since then, the fire has been put out, although firefighters are still present.
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Luke Unsworth told 2GB’s Ben Fordham, “We’re still trying to piece together what occurred so we’ll be working with police throughout the day to identify the cause of the fire and get a comprehensive account.”
It’s currently thought that everyone has left the building. We won’t give up until we are certain there was no one else there, but until then, we will proceed on the idea that they aren’t.
Fire and Rescue NSW subsequently disclosed that the fire was so intense that it took firefighters over two hours to completely put it out and that no smoke alarms were discovered during a preliminary investigation inside the house.
The property suffered significant smoke and water damage throughout, but the fire was only able to spread to the room it began in.