NSW house fire death toll on a worrying rise, authorities warn

Shocking footage of a fatal house fire in Sydney’s southwest has been released as authorities make a desperate push to stop the rising death toll from these emergencies.

Shocking footage of a fatal house fire in Sydney’s southwest has been released as authorities make a desperate push to stop the rising death toll from these emergencies.

The death of a 62-year-old man at Bankstown has taken the winter house fire toll to 10, six more than the seasonal total last year.

Emergency services responded to reports of a fire at 6:30am Saturday and arrived to find the house well alight. After extinguishing the blaze, firefighters found a man’s body inside.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

Since June 1, 10 people have died in house fires across NSW with the majority of those in Sydney’s west. Forty-two people have been injured in the same period.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) commissioner Paul Baxter said most of the fatal fires could have been avoided with working smoke alarms.

A man died in a Bankstown house on Saturday. Picture: Fire and Rescue NSW

“We spend a lot of money on burglar alarms to stop people stealing our big screen TVs,“ he said. “We install smart CCTV systems to make sure no one steals our internet purchases from the front porch.

“We need to wake up and take simple inexpensive steps to protect our irreplaceable things, our lives.”

Another man died in an apartment fire in Campbell street, Parramatta. Picture: John Appleyard

A woman and her husband were lucky to escape a house fire in Lakemba. Picture: Fire and Rescue NSW

Comm. Baxter said almost 50 per cent of homes damaged by fire this winter didn’t have working smoke alarms, while one in five had none at all.

“Please act on this, a working smoke alarm will save your life and the lives of the ones you love,” he said.

The latest incident comes just one week after a man and a woman died in two separate unit fires in Parramatta and Dulwich Hill.

Just before 2:45am on July 11, emergency services rescued two men, aged 20 and 27, from a single-bedroom unit on the third-floor of a larger, blond brick complex, opposite Parramatta Westfield shopping centre, that was well alight.

The 20-year-old was rescued and taken to hospital in a stable condition. The 27-year-old was pulled from the unit unconscious and given CPR on a landing of the stairs before being taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition. He died in hospital just after 5am.

The victim is believed to be an Indian national who was living in Australia where he was studying and working as an Uber delivery driver.

Authorities warn of a worrying rise in the house fire death toll. Picture: Fire and Rescue NSW

Nine hours later, Fire and Rescue NSW crews were called to an apartment in Dulwich Hill to extinguish a fire. On arrival, two firefighters managed to put out the small blaze using handheld fire extinguishers, but found the body of a woman while doing so.

There have also been multiple close calls, including husband and wife Angelo and Francesca Melfi, who barely escaped a house fire in their Lakemba home before midnight on Saturday, with fire crews arriving as the roof on the Dennis St home was burning.

On Thursday, a woman broke her leg after jumping from a balcony to escape a fire in Punchbowl, with two dogs treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Firefighters who saved the woman from the unit fire ⁠said she was lucky to be alive.