A woman has been charged after a house fire critically injured two young girls

A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a house fire in Melbourne left two young girls critically injured.

A woman has been charged with two counts of attempted murder following a suspicious house fire in Melbourne’s southeast that left two young girls critically injured.

Detectives from Victoria Police’s Arson and Explosives Squad arrested a 37-year-old Chadstone woman on Thursday morning in connection with the May 21 blaze that tore through a two-storey townhouse on Terrigal Street.

Emergency services were called to the property just before 9.40pm after reports of smoke and flames pouring from the building.

A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a house fire in Chadstone left two young girls critically injured. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Police said a gas cylinder exploded in the home and the fire was being treated as suspicious. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Fire crews forced their way into the home, rescuing the woman and two girls, aged seven and eight at the time, from the first floor of the home.

All three were rushed to hospital in critical condition.

A 36-year-old man, also a resident, was not home at the time of the incident.

The woman, who had been recovering in hospital, was formally charged on Thursday and remanded in custody.

She is expected to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

Originally published as A woman has been charged after a house fire critically injured two young girls