Newtown boarding house fire: Death toll rises to three

The death toll from a fire at a Newtown boarding house has risen to three as police reveal they are treating the deliberately lit fire as a murder investigation.

Police are treating a boarding house fire in Sydney’s inner west as a ‘murder’, with three bodies found so far and a fourth person unaccounted for.

Detectives believe an accelerant was used to light the fire just after 1am on Tuesday, before the blaze quickly escalated across both floors of the Vajda House in Newtown, located on the corner of Probert and Albermarle streets.

At least 11 people are believed to have been inside the boarding house at the time, all of them men aged from 40 up to 80 years old.

“Without going into scientific evidence so far, it would be fair to say that some type of accelerant has been used,” NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter said.

“We are treating this as a murder and treating this as a deliberately lit fire.”

A fire broke out at the two-level boarding house in Newtown.

Three people have died in the fire, believed to be deliberately lit.

Police also revealed they have so far been unable to get in contact with the landlord of the property, but stressed there was no suggestion he was involved.

None of those killed have so far been formally identified.

Police and firefighters have spent the morning at the scene, not only searching for bodies but investigating the cause of the fire.

The boarding house provides a refuge for the homeless, those battling mental illness and even criminals on parole.

Three people remain in hospital, including a man in his 80s who was seen jumping from a first floor balcony to escape the flames.

He was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with suspected fractured ankles, where he also then suffered from a heart attack.

Vajda House residents Peter Bouman and Craig Hopper woke about 1am to the noise of the massive explosion and collapse of part of the floor.

Police and firefighters at the scene of the fatal explosion. Picture: John Grainger

An explosion was heard when the boarding house ignited. Picture: John Grainger

Left homeless and without many of their belongings, Mr Bouman and Mr Hopper sat down a quiet Newtown side street and had a beer as they waited for news on other boarding house residents who remain unaccounted for.

“I’d been watching TV and had fallen asleep, and then f**king boom, I thought the Russians had dropped a rocket on us,” Mr Hopper said.

“It was pretty incredible. I was on the second floor, I got up and looked out and the next thing you know a bloke came down the hall screaming: ‘The house is on fire’.”

A floor below Mr Bouwman said he was shocked by the ferocity with which the fire spread.

Having initially decided to try and quickly get changed, he soon realised time was of the essence and ran out before the building collapsed.

“I stuck my head out and the entire front of the house was ablaze,” Mr Bouwman said.

“I thought: ‘I’m not going out in a robe’, and I’m the very last room on the bottom floor so I can go straight out the back, but I didn’t want to not have shoes and pants.

Police and firefighters gather evidence at the scene. Picture: John Grainger

Police have described the fire as a murder investigation. Picture: John Grainger

“So I put shoes and pants on, and the house was raging by this point, so it’s not like I could have done anything and I thought: ‘If I die because I’ve stayed here too long, I’m an idiot’.

“An 80-year-old guy jumped from the first floor and he (Mr Hopper) and another bloke dragged him across the road (to safety).

“Another guy got thrown out through his bedroom window. The corner of his room was an old shopfront so he got blown out through there.

“It was a hell of an explosion, even when we were out there on the street it exploded again.

“It was just luck of the draw.”

The burnt out building. Picture John Grainger

Firefighters at the scene. Picture: John Grainger

A group of eight residents were able to evacuate the building.

“It was a very intense fire,” a Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said.

“The building has undergone some internal structural collapse, meaning it is now unsafe for firefighters to enter.”

NSW Ambulance paramedic Braden Robinson said several patients were treated for serious injuries including burns and smoke inhalation.

Residents in neighbouring properties were evacuated with no other reports of injury.

Ian Mineall, 65, from Leichhardt caught a taxi straight after he heard the news, with one of his close friends being a resident of the boarding house.

“I’ve had no communication with him so I’m very worried,” Mr Mineall told The Daily Telegraph.

NSW Fire and Rescue put out the blaze at the Newtown boarding house.

Three people were found dead inside the boarding house. Picture: John Grainger

“But to tell you the truth I honestly expected something like this to happen.

“I was here last Thursday and there was problems with the roof inside the kitchen.

“After all the rain the inner part of the roof was starting to collapse and you could clearly see wires.

“There was boxing knee high blocking the hallway as well.”

Mr Mineall who lived in the same Inner West boarding house for nearly 30 years and was a caretaker for several years until retiring four years ago said the building had “gone down hill”.

“It was a pretty respectable boarding house for a fair while but it has gone down hill in the last four years since the previous caretaker left,” he said.

“Plenty of people complained about the conditions, mostly cockroaches and other little problems.

“It also had a bit of a drug and alcohol problem but most places like this do.”