Two young girls severely injured in a suspicious blaze in Melbourne’s south-east are in a stable condition in hospital, as police wait to interview their critically injured mother.
The trio were carried unconscious from their burning Chadstone townhouse on Wednesday night after a gas bottle exploded in an upstairs bedroom.
Detectives at the scene of the Chadstone house fire on Thursday.Credit: Penny Stephens
Detectives said a 36-year-old man who also lives at the home was not a suspect.
Firefighters forced their way into the Terrigal Street home shortly before 10pm on Wednesday. They found a 37-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged eight and 10, unconscious in an upstairs bedroom of the two-storey property.
Police later interviewed a 36-year-old man, who was not home at the time of the fire. Neighbour Andrew Kapuduwa told The Age that the man worked night shift, and left the townhouse about 5pm each day.
Detectives confirmed on Friday they had spoken to the man. “[He] has been ruled out as a suspect,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
“Detectives will look to speak to the female occupant from the home, a 37-year-old woman, however she remains in a critical condition in hospital and is therefore not in a position to speak with police.
“Detectives are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident. The fire is being treated as suspicious.”
The woman is still fighting for her life at The Alfred hospital. Her daughters, who were taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a critical condition, are now in a stable condition.
Fire Rescue Victoria commander Paul Eckholdt earlier told the ABC the woman and her two children sustained burns in the fire, including to their airways.
Kapuduwa told The Age that he and his family had heard the explosion and raced to the house but could not open the door because it was too hot.
The woman and her two girls were found unconscious in an upstairs bedroom.Credit: Nine
“It was a huge fire. There were no cries for help or anything,” he said.
On Thursday, Detective Inspector Chris Murray did not say why police were treating the fire as suspicious.
Police say the fire was suspicious.Credit: Penny Stephens
“We believe it was a gas cylinder inside the house that caused the explosion,” Murray said.
The investigation into the Chadstone fire is ongoing.
Two die in separate blazes
Two people have died in separate house fires in Melbourne’s south-east this week.
About 2.10am on Friday, a person was found dead inside the rear bungalow of a property on Lyppards Road at Langwarrin.
Another three people escaped the fire uninjured, and the cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.
On Thursday afternoon, a person died after a unit on Franklin Court in Frankston was engulfed in flames. Nobody else was injured.
Police are also investigating the cause of that blaze.
With Cameron Houston
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