Mum Akira Garton’s heartbreak at losing twins in Byron house fire

The mum of identical twins who died in a house fire near Byron has told of her agony at waking up without her “beautiful bunnikins.”

The grieving mother of twins who died in a house fire on a commune near Byron Bay has told of her agony of waking up to day three without her “beautiful bunnikins.”

Akira Garton says she has been left devastated at the dawning reality of never seeing her four year old girls again, saying: “Words cannot express waking up to day three of these beautiful bunnikins not here …

“No more mumma … no more hands, no more smiles, no more dancing, no more moments like this, happy, so happy,” she wrote on social media, referring to a picture of them smiling on October 13.

Akira Garton and twins Ophelia and Tarrow.

The girls’ father James Wright.

“I’m devastated. It was too early. I never thought I’d use social media to communicate this.

“I have no words beyond disbelief.”

The girls suffocated in a house fire on a commune Nunkeri Multi Occupancy in Goonangerry, where their father, political activist James Wright, was spending the weekend with his daughters and his girlfriend.

Police and fire investigators are probing the possibility a candle left burning on a piano triggered a fire emitting toxic fumes which suffocated the girls as they slept, around 4am on Sunday.

The piano was near the room where the sisters Ophelia and Tarrow were sleeping.

The twins’ grandfather Andrew Garton says the families have been left shattered by the girls’ deaths.

Flowers have been left at the property. Picture: Danielle Smith

Mr Wright and his girlfriend were believed to have attended a bonfire on the commune grounds and returned to find smoke billowing from the bedroom.

A distressed woman called emergency services at 4am as a blaze engulfed the home, begging, “Hurry, the babies can’t breathe.”

Paramedics battled to resuscitate the sisters but they died from smoke inhalation.

The girls’ grandfather Andrew Garton said the family was “shattered” by the “unimaginable” loss of the twins.

Writing on a Gofundmepage, Mr Garton said: “They were my granddaughters Tarrow and Ophelia, I have never asked for much but today I ask that if you can, please help Akira, my daughter through this challenging time.

“There are two families grieving we need your strength and support.

“It’s every mother’s worst nightmare that had suddenly become a reality for our darling Akira on Sunday morning (7th November) when she heard the news that her 4 year old twin girls had lost their lives in a house fire in Goonengary, NSW, Australia.

Police tape seen at the house.

Well wishers laid bouquets of flowers outside the home. Picture: AAP

“Tarrow and Ophelia were bright, playful, identical twins that had a sparkle in their eyes and angelic features.

“They loved and adored their older sister Maitreya so so much … just as they were loved and adored by all close to them.

“There is no word in English for a parent who loses their child, and there shouldn’t be.

“It is an unthinkable tragedy. Akira and her family are shattered to the core; they have an unbearable amount of grief to carry and heartbreaking pain to endure.

“Akira is a single mother with an extraordinary amount of expenses ahead of her.

“A loss of this magnitude is almost unimaginable, and to even try is quite unbearable. A sorrow this complete takes away even the ability to breathe, the previously normal act of simply existing becoming a terrifying and seemingly impossible territory. Akira will need us, all of us, to survive this loss.”

The 20-home commune, situated on 120 acres of farmland on the Byron Bay hinterland has been established for more than 30 years, and is named after the Aboriginal word meaning beautiful.