Body found after reports of home invasion and house fire in Elderslie in Sydney's south-west
Updated
A man who died in a suspicious house fire in Sydney's south-west amid reports of a home invasion was not believed to be a resident of the home, police say.
Key points:
- Police are treating the fire as a suspicious and targeted incident
- A neighbour says he saw a man leaving the home shortly after the blaze broke out
- The neighbour tried to hose down another man who was on fire inside the home
Emergency services were called to the house on Crank Street in Elderslie about 11:40pm on Saturday after reports of a home invasion and fire, with several people inside.
Several people managed to escape the blaze but a body of a man was later found inside.
Police said six others were inside the home at the time and all were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation.
Two officers were also treated in hospital for smoke inhalation and one of the officers also suffered a fractured hand.
Police said they were treating the fire as a suspicious and targeted incident.
While the body is yet been formally identified, police said it was not believed to be a resident of the home.
A neighbour who wanted only to be identified as Simon, told the ABC his children heard yelling and screaming and when he went to investigate, found the home alight.
As he approached the house, he saw a man leave and get into a dark-coloured car before driving away.
Simon said he helped several people out of the burning home and took a hose inside to help put out the fire.
Inside, a man wearing a black hoodie and with a cloth covering his face, was on fire.
The man held his arm out and Simon hosed it down.
"I couldn't look at him because he was on fire," said Simon, breaking down.
Simon sustained a back injury after slipping on wet tiles in the house and was taken to hospital for treatment to his back and smoke inhalation.
Neighbour's home catches fire
Another neighbour, Paul Cordon, said he called triple-0 after hearing yelling, screaming and banging.
When he saw neighbours run to the home and then back away from the front door, he realised "something bad" was happening.
When the property's windows blew out from the blaze, Mr Cordon began to defend his own home which suffered damage to the eaves and gutters.
Mr Cordon said he felt very "shaken" and the close call had given him "a bit of a reality check".
Marie Starr, who lives several doors down, said the incident was "very sad".
"If it's suspicious, I just don't know — people have got involved with other innocent people if they've got a beef with someone else."
Inspector Andrew Ticehurst from Fire and Rescue NSW said the front of the house was engulfed by "a very intense fire" when crews arrived.
"It was reported that there were people trapped inside the house, so firefighters entered the house immediately to attack the fire and search for the occupants of the house," he said.
It was later confirmed a number of people had escaped the blaze before emergency services arrived.
Inspector Ticehurst said a pet cat was safely rescued by firefighters and given oxygen at the scene before being taken to a vet for further treatment.
Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, elderslie-2570
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