Fire engulfs Ringwood East Hunter Court home, five people escape
Five people have escaped a house fire in Ringwood East, which is believed to have started in a bedroom. And emergency services believe the cause might be more sinister than a faulty piece of electrical gear.
Outer East
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UPDATE: A family of five including a toddler have escaped a fire which engulfed a Ringwood East home this morning.
Twenty-two firefighters responded to the fire in Hunter Ct following a call to 000 about 6am on Wednesday, July 29.
According to Fire Rescue Victoria, firefighters arrived within eight minutes to find smoke and flames coming from the roof and five people inside the home had safely evacuated.
The fire, believed to have started in a bedroom, was contained a short time later and did not spread to nearby properties.
Maroondah detective Senior Sergeant Alicia Thorp said the fire caused significant damage inside the single-storey brick house.
Maroondah Leader understands a woman and the toddler, believed to be two years old, were taken by road ambulance to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
It is also understood a cat is missing following the fire.
Neighbour Lynne Webb said she spotted six fire trucks and three ambulances when she rushed outside this morning.
She said the family looked “devastated” on the side of the road as flames rose above the burning house’s roof.
“It was a scary situation, but the firefighters had it in control quickly,” Ms Webb said.
“There was a few neighbours outside and really we were all concerned for the family, they were devastated.”
The cause of the fire has been deemed suspicious and detectives and the arson chemist visited the home about 11am to conduct further investigations.
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