Durack house fire: Man and woman in hospital after fire tears through Yale Pde, Durack home

Community members have rallied around a young family whose Durack home tragically went up in flames this week.Read the latest.

Community members have rallied around a young family whose Durack home tragically went up in flames this week.

A mother and two young children aged six and eight were forced to flee from their home on Yale Parade just after 1am on Friday when flames were spotted outside.

The fire quickly tore through the household destroying many of their belongings with both the dad, who later arrived at the scene, and mum taken to hospital with burns.

A GoFundMe has since been set up by a friend of the family Jasmine Curran looking to aid in putting their lives back together after the tragic incident.

NT Police and fire crews were called to a house blaze on Yale Parade in Durack after 1am on Friday, May 23. Picture: Nathaniel Chambers

“While we don’t know much right now, what we do know is that they will need help, with the future often unclear after such a devastating event,” the GoFundMe read.

“I am putting out the call for donations of anything you can donate. Household items, kids toys, clothes, the list could go on.

“Financially, all money raised will go directly to the family to whatever costs they are going to need to cover and to keep moving forward.”

The fundraiser can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-durack-family-fundraiser

Investigation into cause of Durack house fire continues

Two people have been taken to hospital with burns and injuries after a fire engulfed a Durack home early on Friday morning.

NT emergency services received multiple distress calls from Yale Pde about a growing house fire in Palmerston just after 1am and launched a multiple agency response.

NT Police, NT Fire and Rescue Service, St John NT and Strike Force Trident and Dog Operations Units responded to the call and were on scene by 1.14am.

Three people were in the home at the time of the incident – a woman and two young children, while a man reportedly arrived as the fire sprouted.

All three were able to escape the home, which sustained significant damage.

The man and woman were taken by ambulance to Royal Darwin Hospital.

It is understood the man suffered from burns to his back and the woman had serious arm injuries.

The two children were reportedly unharmed.

Speaking to media at 9am, NT Police and fireys said only minor burns and injuries were sustained by the man and woman.

Smoke was seen still coming from the property later on Friday morning. Picture: Nathaniel Chambers

Watch Commander Anthony Blakeley said nobody was in the building at the time fireys arrived so it turned into a defensive response.

Emergency vehicles filled the street in the hours after, with 15 members on site between 1.15am and 4.45am.

“It worked out that getting into the house wasn’t an option so we went on the defensive attack to limit spread to other properties,” he said.

“There was a family inside initially and our understanding is they heard noise from outside, saw the fire and self-evacuated from there.

“Our response is always limited to us, it’s always nice when neighbours want to help out but making a triple-0 call is more important than trying to go in with a garden hose.

“Our first call was at 1.15am and were here by 1.21am, which is our nominal response time and where we want to be to attend to a structure fire.

“We couldn’t do anything internally, but limiting damage to near structures was important, as there can be a lot from heat transfer particularly where there isn’t a lot of space between.”

A crime scene has been established at the address in Durack on Friday morning. Picture: Nathaniel Chambers

Commander Blakeley said the cause of the blaze was still unknown as at 9am and that investigations were still ongoing.

“We do have investigators coming to the scene, and we’ll have to do investigations with people on the street,” he said.

“There’s a surprising amount of structure fires in Darwin at different times of year and we’re seeing more with the implementation of solar and batteries.”

About 7.40am NT Police confirmed a crime scene had been established at the location of the fire.

Smoke could still be seen coming from the charred structure later on Friday morning.

A neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, told this masthead two people had been taken to hospital.

Neighbours reported hearing banging from the house. Picture: Nathaniel Chambers

The man said his wife had heard banging from the house and went over to help at about 1am. The injured man and woman were both taken to hospital.

Another neighbour also said they had heard banging coming from the house, which made them think a weapon had been discharged – before they realised it was a fire.

They say they were up until 4am because of the smoke and sheltered their next door neighbours in their yard until 2am.

Originally published as Durack house fire: Man and woman in hospital after fire tears through Yale Pde, Durack home