Firefighters find body of elderly woman in Brooklyn home after containing Eames Ave blaze
An 81-year-old grandmother who died overnight in a ‘terrifying’ house fire in Brooklyn has been remembered as “kind and caring” by her heartbroken children.
Victoria
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An elderly grandmother has died overnight in a house fire in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Brooklyn widower Ellen Morley, 81, tragically died in her Eames Ave bedroom about 1.40am on Thursday.
The mother-of-three was remembered as a “kind and caring” woman by her adult children.
Heartbroken son Wayne Morley told the Herald Sun he spoke to his mum on the phone just hours before she perished in the blaze.
“I spoke to her last night, you could tell in her voice she was just getting stir crazy because of COVID,” he said.
“The last thing I said to her was ‘I’ll speak to you tomorrow’ trying to keep her spirits up.
“But sadly Peter, my brother, rang this morning with the news.”
Mr Morley said his mother was a “hard person to describe” but had fond memories of his childhood growing up in Newport.
“Mum was always someone you could have a talk to, she was always there whenever you needed anything,” he said.
“When Dad passed, it took a lot out of her.”
She was a mother to Peter, Wayne and Alan and was married to Max.
Firefighters got to her single storey home within six minutes and said it was a “fairly terrifying” scene for neighbours to witness.
“It was a going fire, when they (firefighters) entered the building, that is where they discovered the person on the floor, in the bedroom,” Commander Dean Gould from Fire Rescue Victoria said.
“Shortly after (arriving) unfortunately we discovered the body of a lady in the front bedroom of the house, she was confirmed deceased at the time.
“Luckily there was nobody else in the premises but there is extensive damage to the property.”
Commander Gould said firefighters had been “unable” to determine a cause of the “extensive” house fire.
“It looks like it has spread through the roof of the premises,” he said.
“Our fire investigation team and the police arson squad are on scene at the moment.”
The fire was deemed under control about 2.50am.
Mrs Morley’s body was taken away in a coroner’s van about 11am.
The adjoining next door property has some water damage as a result of the fire.
Victoria Police said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined and investigations are ongoing.
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