Artist Patrick Carroll identified as the man killed in The Entrance fire

The man trapped after a fatal fire ripped through a two-storey shopping centre at The Entrance has been identified.

Artist Patrick Carroll was killed when a fire broke out at Ebbtide Mall while he was in his studio upstairs. Picture: supplied

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The Central Coast art community is in mourning after the shock death of popular painter Patrick Carroll who became trapped in his studio as a fire raged through Ebbtide Mall at The Entrance.

The 69-year-old was in his studio on the upper level of the mall when a fire broke out shortly after 4pm on Sunday..

He rang Triple-0 and was on the phone to emergency services during the terrifying ordeal.

Patrick Carroll pictured in 2002. Picture: Virginia Young

Forensics and fire investigation crews arrive at the scene of the arcade fire at The Entrance which killed a man trapped inside. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

A police spokesman said the fire was on the other side of his door, so he could not get out that way and he could not exit through the windows because they were covered by metal security screens.

More than 50 firefighters responded to the blaze which witnesses said sent choking thick black smoke high into the air.

A number of other people had to be evacuated from the mall.

A major fire broke out at Ebbtide Mall at The Entrance Rd.

Ebbtide Mall will remain shut as forensics and fire investigation crews determine how the fire started. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

Fire crews were able to pull the security screen off one window and dragged Mr Carroll out onto the roof but he could not be resuscitated.

Tuggerah Lakes Police are leading the investigation with the support of the State Crime Command.

This morning specialist Fire & Rescue NSW investigators spent several hours with a detection dog trying to determine the exact origin and cause of the blaze.

Artist Patrick Carroll with one of his works in August 2002. Picture: Virginia Young

Police are also investigating the layout of the mall, built in the 1970s, and whether it had adequate fire escapes and sprinkler systems.

A number of shopkeepers and fellow artists expressed their shock at Mr Carroll’s death.

“I cut his hair last week,” a local barber said.

“He was quiet, he kept to himself but he was lovely man.”

Patrick Carroll (left) at the opening of an art exhibition in 2008. Picture: File

Some witnesses reported hearing explosions with a nearby cafe worker saying he heard loud “bangs”, which he assumed were tins of paint or other flammable items igniting during the inferno.

Ebbtide Mall is expected to be closed for a few days with fears of asbestos contamination.

In a biography on Terrigal KAB Gallery’s website it describes Mr Carroll as a contemporary realist artist.

It is believed firefighters were able to drag him out of the window on the right after removing a security screen. Picture: Richard Noone

“He is constantly walking a fine line between the comfort of realism and the pulsating line and colour in an expressionist mode, which seeks to surprise and energise the viewer,” the biography reads.

“He has developed a technique where abstraction is pushed into reality.”

Gosford Regional Gallery curator Tim Braham with a painting by Carroll recording a bushfire near his Bathurst home.

Born in Bathurst in 1949, Mr Carroll has been practising as a full-time professional artist with more than 35 solo exhibitions since 1974.

His artworks feature in many collections including Campbelltown Bicentennial Art Gallery, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, Fairfield Municipal Council, Lismore City Art Gallery, St. Ignatius College Riverview and St Pius’x College, Chatswood, to name a few.