Twin girls, 5, brother, 11, killed in ferocious Hunter Region house fire
Heroic neighbours with garden hoses could hear the screaming as they frantically fought in vain to rescue three children from the fatal inferno which was once their Singleton home.
Heroic neighbours with garden hoses could hear the screaming as they frantically fought in vain to rescue three children from the fatal inferno which was once their Singleton home.
“I just kicked the door in and tried to get the kids out,” Braden Rodgers said.
“I got on my hands and knees and still couldn’t see and the flames were coming back to us as we were doing everything else.”
Mother Kara Atkins, 31, and her eight-year-old daughter Bayley were the only two family members to escape the blaze about 3.30am yesterday.
Tragically left behind were Ms Atkins’ three other children, twins Matylda and Scarlett, age 5, and Blake, 11.
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“We couldn’t get the other kids out. I just couldn’t see,” Mr Rodgers said.
“Kara was a mess. The daughter, I didn’t really see her, I was more paying attention to getting the rest of them out of the house. I don’t want no praise for it. Any person should do that.”
His partner Deanna Stolzenburg and fellow neighbour Matisse Maskey were the ones who pulled Kara and Bayley out the back window.
“I woke up to the house exploding and glass exploding and the house engulfed in flames and then me and Matisse ran out the back to try and save them all,” she said.
“Then my partner Braden kicked down the door.
“(Kara) was at the back window screaming for help and we went out the back and pulled them out.
“The window was open and Kara was passing her daughter out, she said ‘take her take her, I’ve got to get the rest’.
“We got the mother and daughter out and then the fire brigade and the police came.
“I feel helpless because I didn’t get them all out, there were three lives lost.”
grim find
As fire crews arrived to see the Brittliffe Close house engulfed by flames with alarms going off inside, smoke was pouring into two separate rooms where the twin girls were. Firefighters smashed the windows to get the duo out alive — but they later died in Singleton Hospital.
Blake’s remains were eventually discovered only when firefighters put out the blaze and managed to finally enter the completely destroyed brick home.
Brock Forbes, 16, who used to play football in the street with Blake, watched as the roof of the home collapsed.
“I was in my room and just heard screaming and a smash, then I looked out and there was thick smoke,” Brock said. “I grabbed the hose and tried to put the fire out, I heard crackling and screaming first.
“I was putting water everywhere, on to the roof before it fell off and almost hit the car.”
Ms Atkins, with burns, and Bayley, suffering smoke inhalation, remained at John Hunter Hospital in stable conditions last night.
One neighbour, Jodie, said she heard the mother’s distraught screams: “It’s horrible. We heard screaming and by the time I got clothes on and came out, the house was engulfed … she was wailing, the mum was screaming, it was dreadful.”
Police Superintendent Chad Gillies praised the residents who helped. “I’d like to emphasise the heroic nature of the four residents in the nearby vicinity who tried to assist the people inside the house and importantly got the mother and eight-year-old daughter out.”
A combustion wood fire heater in the front of the housing commission property was understood to have been burning at the time of the fire and was “a major point of investigation” according to firefighters.
Other neighbours said the mother “had her struggles” like anyone but cared deeply about her children. Local Chantelle said the mother was a “beautiful person”.
“She loved her children dearly. She’s a great mum and great person,” she said.
Tributes and tears for little lost trio
Blake played football in the street with his mates and offered to take out the bins for his neighbours.
His little sisters, twins Matylda and Scarlett, were pleasant girls known for their “sweet little voices”.
Their deaths in a horrific blaze which engulfed their housing commission home on Brittliffe Close in Singleton yesterday not only shattered their mother Kara Atkins but left a small community desperately trying to make sense of the tragedy.
The family’s cousin Gary Bates said surviving sibling, eight-year-old sister Bayley, was in shock.
“I’ve just spoken to her grandmother and she said she is sitting up in hospital watching TV, she doesn’t know what’s going on, she doesn’t know she’s lost her family, she doesn’t know she has lost her brothers and sisters,” Mr Bates said.
Outside the destroyed house last night, his fiancee Debbie Garland said Kara’s mother Karen was not in a good place.
“I was just speaking to Kara’s mum, she said I’ve just lost half my grandchildren in one day,” Ms Garland said.
She said the family had recently had a new portrait taken.
“It was a beautiful picture and they said they got it just in time,” Ms Garland said.
“We have told (the family) just take one day at a time, I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like losing your grandchildren or any of your children.
“Kara always seemed happy, I don’t think they had much but they were happy.”
Neighbour Chantelle said Ms Atkins was a “beautiful” mother who adored her children.
“We know her, she’s a beautiful person, she loved her children dearly. She’s a great mum,” she said.
Chantelle used to call Blake “red shorts”, for his trademark piece of clothing.
“I called him red shorts because of the whole fun thing we had. They were actually good little children. I’m still devastated. I’m sick in the gut,” she said.
Other neighbours knew Blake as “bin boy” because he would often ask if they needed their garbage taken out.
Neighbour Maria Stokes was struggling with the news after bumping into the family in the street just days before the fire.
“I only spoke to them the other day when they were walking home from school,” she said.
“Poor little darlings, sweet little voices. (We just spoke about) normal kid stuff, talking among themselves.”
Donate to help the family rebuild: GoFundMe campaign
Outside the destroyed property yesterday neighbours family and friends arrived to lay tributes, including a photograph of Blake in his Singlton greyhounds rugby league shirt. A team jersey lay next to it.
Among the bouquets of flowers was also a letter reading: “Dear Blake, Matylda and Scarlett, you were good friends to everyone and we are going to miss you dearly”.
Some residents decided to leave their porch lights on in memory of the children last night.
Stacey Brain wrote on social media: “there’s not (much) I can do but one small gesture I will make towards those who’s life were destroyed by this morning’s tragic events is I’ll be leaving my outside lights on to help light the way for them! Rip little angels.
A GoFundMe page was set up yesterday and has already reached its goal of raising $100,000.
More than 2,400 people have donated.
“The family will need to rebuild their lives and home, any help will be forever appreciated,” the campaign page said.
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