‘Shocked’ neighbours await answers on fatal house fire

Shocked residents are waiting for answers after three people were found dead in a burnt-out Canberra house.

ACT Police Forensics at the scene. Picture: Gary Ramage

Shocked residents are waiting for answers after three people were found dead in a burnt-out Canberra house where a woman and two children lived.

Neighbours say the woman would say hello and wave when they saw her and the young children would play in the street before fire engulfed the home on Monday.

However, there were few other interactions with the family, said Salvation Army major Bob Garven, who doorknocked the area to check on the welfare of residents.

ACT Policing say the fire was deliberately lit but has not said whether the suspicion is that it was done by one of the dead or someone else.

“They weren’t well known in the community. It’s just shock that something like that could happen in their street,” Mr ­Garven told The Australian.

“A lot of it is not knowing what the ultimate outcome will be because it’s still under investigation and nobody knows what’s really gone on there.”

Police yesterday issued a statement saying it was an “extremely complex investigation”.

“ACT Policing stresses that at this time we have been unable to positively confirm the identities of the three people. As a result, no next of kin notifications have occurred. ”

All that has been confirmed is that fire accelerants had been used and there had been multiple seats of fire.

A man was questioned by police earlier this week before being released without charge.

Residents have been left to ­assume the three dead were the woman and two children.

“That’s an assumption ­because that’s who people had seen leaving the house from time to time and the kids playing in the street,” Mr Garven said.

The Bonner home was publicly owned “low-cost housing” in a new development where there is said to be the usual mix of older people and young families.

“The whole street would be less than five years old,” Mr Garven said. “There seemed to be very little interaction with the neighbours. That’s been the common thread — she kept to herself and there were no real friendships or anything like that.

“People were leaving for work that morning and not seeing anything unusual at all.

“Then within a matter of half an hour the fire’s through the roof of the building.”