Batlow house fire, Aisha and Lailani Ford: Strike force set up to investigate
The distraught grandmother of three-year-old twins Aisha and Lailani Ford has arrived to lay flowers, as investigators continue the painstaking investigation into what caused the fire that tragically took their lives in Batlow yesterday.
The Wagga News
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Wagga News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Mother forced to watch horror fire as twins die
- Tributes flow for hardworking young father killed in collision
Distraught family members of the little girls who perished in a horrific house fire in south west NSW, have arrived at the Batlow home to lay flowers for the twins.
Sharon Dubois, the grandmother of three-year-old twins Aisha and Lailani Ford, was in tears and comforted by a number of young girls as she stood outside the house on Tuesday afternoon.
When asked about what the girls were like, she said: “Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Police have set up a strike force to investigate the tragic deaths of the young girls, looking at all of the events leading up to the fire and the circumstances surrounding how the girl’s mother Tanyka and the girl’s six-year-old brother became locked outside of the Mayday Rd home on Monday morning.
The two little girls were pulled from the house after 11am after emergency crews had to force their way inside, while their distraught mother could only look on and cry for help.
They died at the scene, shattering the close-knit community, already devastated by years of drought and then January’s horrific bushfires.
Detectives, along with Fire and Rescue NSW investigators and the State Crime Arson Unit, will spend Tuesday combing the property for clues and speaking to witnesses to get to the bottom of the tragedy.
Riverina Police District’s Superintendent Bob Noble said he felt for the whole family, suffering with the horrible pain their deaths have caused.
“We’re keeping an open mind in respect to the nature of this incident. What we have is two young children who died,” Supt Noble said.
“These two little babies lived a short life. They died suddenly, unexpectedly and in horrific circumstances.
“We want the family to enjoy the memory as much as they can without it being sullied by unhelpful conjecture and speculation.
“They were in good health and were from the Snow Valley areas. Just being at the scene yesterday, it’s quite evident there were friends and relatives in the immediate vicinity, which in one sense is good because they can put their arms around these bereaved relatives.”
Meanwhile, the uncle of the girls has called for help in rebuilding a life for their devastated mother who he said has lost “everything”.
Ms Ford’s brother Levi has set up a GoFundMe page, which has today eclipsed its $2000 target.
“My sister tragically lost her 3-year-old twin daughters Aisha & Lailani in a house fire, which claimed not only the lives of these 2 young children but also their home and belongings,” Mr Ford wrote.
“Her son has lost all his belongings including toys and clothing. I know how tough times are right now, I’m making a go fund me to help with clothing, food and other items that may be needed to help her get back on her feet. Also help with funeral costs etc.
“Losing everything is hard enough without having to worry about financials. Anything no matter how small would be muchly appreciated.”
Supt Noble said police would investigate all the information surrounding the fire, including a fireplace that was burning at the time, but hosed down suggestions Ms Ford wasn’t at the home when the fire broke out.
“Our detectives will interview first responders, including staff from FRNSW and NSW Ambulance paramedics and our first-responding police,” he said. “So that we get a well-rounded overview of the circumstances as they led up to this incident.
“We’re keeping all possibilities on the table, (such as) where the mother may have been.
“I’m not aware of any narrative that supports that narrative (that Ms Ford may have been down the street).
“We’ve obtained an initial version from the mum who was understandably distraught. It’ll take some time for our expert investigators to tease out all the details. I don’t have any information to support that narrative and I’m not sure where that emanated from.
“In a devastating tragedy such as this, rumours and innuendo surround it. It’s very unhelpful. “We need to deal in evidence, we need to deal in facts. That’s what our police are doing, they know what they’re doing. We need to trust them to get to the bottom of it.
“Speculation and conjecture are very hurtful to the family, to the community. It’s disrespectful to the memories of these little babies.
“Apparently the fire spread quite quickly as they quite often can. Unfortunately, when you’ve got vulnerable children in that situation, the outcome is quite often catastrophic and it certainly fits into that category in this situation, which is very very sad.”
Supt Noble said investigators were keeping an open mind on whether the fire was suspicious.
“It could’ve been any number of things,” he said. “We do have some material, some of that we’ve been able to corroborate. But we need to further corroborate or debunk information.”
He said it was unclear if charges could be laid at this early stage.