Tributes flow for victims of Lara house fire

New information has emerged concerning a house fire which claimed the life of an 11-year-old boy and a war veteran on Monday.

New details have emerged concerning a tragic house fire which killed an 11-year-old boy and a war veteran near Melbourne on Monday.

Friends of the family have revealing the child had been at the scene with his younger brother for a “boys night” to watch the soccer with their neighbour and family friend.

Emergency services were called to a residential address on Forest Rd North, Lara shortly before 5am, where as many as 30 firefighters and eight fire trucks battled the blaze.

Mick Lavery, Commander at the Lara Country Fire Authority, was one of the first responders at the scene and described the fire as “very intense”.

Two bodies, since identified as 11-year-old Elihjohn Ward and neighbour Peter Cochrane, 74, were discovered by the first responders, while Elihjohn’s 10-year-old brother was able to escape the blaze.

Elihjohn, 11, was killed, along with a family friend when a fire broke out in a home southwest of Melbourne on Monday. Picture: Facebook

A GoFundMe page established late on Monday night has since raised more than $12,000 for Elihjohn’s mother, Kristie Ward, for bills and funeral costs.

Yasmin Romania, a friend of the family, told NCA NewsWire on Tuesday the two children went to spend the night at Mr Cochrane’s house to watch the World Cup final, which was played in the early hours of Monday morning Melbourne time.

Ms Romania said Mr Cochrane had been a neighbour and close friend of the family for “years”.

“It was so sudden; the community was devastated,” she said.

“It’s such a small town; every second person you bump into was in shock.”

A small service was held at St Anthony’s Primary School in Lara, where Elihjohn was enrolled as a grade five student.

On Facebook, a family member said: “Our beautiful Elihjohn, our lives will never be the same without you.”

A GoFundMe has raised more than $12,000 for the mother of a young child who died in a house fire in Lara on Monday morning. Picture: Facebook

“You were wise beyond your years and had a heart of gold,” the family member wrote.

“I hope you’re surrounded by pancakes and chocolate milkshakes up in heaven.”

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Guthrie said the fire was not being treated as suspicious, and referred to it as a “tragic accident”.

The fire, which engulfed the rear of the property, was described as ‘very intense’ by first responders.

Detective Senior Sergeant Guthrie said firefighters had described the fire as “one of the worst they’d seen”.

On Monday, Police said they were preparing a report for the coroner while the cause of the fire was being investigated.

Originally published as Tributes flow for victims of Lara house fire