A mother’s heartbreak: The heartbreaking events leading to the death of her two daughters

The mother of two young girls who tragically died in a Rokeby house fire says ‘she wouldn’t wish this on anyone’. WARNING: distressing content.

Parents of Jordan and Harlyn Sage Mazey and Jess Steel releasing two doves. Picture: Caroline Tan

The mother of two children killed in a Rokeby House fire recalled the heartbreaking moment her five-year-old daughter ran back into the flames to rescue her younger sister after raising the alarm.

Mother Jess Steel spoke exclusively to the Mercury about the tragic night of the Benboyd Circle house fire on January 19 which led to the deaths of her two children Harlyn, 1, and Jordan, 5.

The scars are still fresh for Jess and her partner Sage, who have said they wouldn’t “wish this on anyone”.

Ms Steel said the alarm was first raised by her son at 8.50am, when he woke her and her partner up in bed to say a fire had started in the house.

The scene of a deadly house fire at Rokeby, which claimed the life of an infant girl. Picture: Rob Inglis

“We were at my sister’s house, and I, me and my partner, we sleep in a caravan at the front of the house and the kids sleep in the house with my sister,” she said.

“So I was woken up at about probably 10 to nine when my son came running out, and he said, ‘Mummy, Aunty Jasmine’s house is on fire’.

“So I got up, I ran to the front door, and I couldn’t get in – there was just smoke and flames and everything, and all I could think was that my little girl was asleep in the lounge room.”

Ms Steel said she began screaming and in a panic, tried to find another way into the home.

A window at the front of the property, Ms Steel found her sister who in her panic smashed out the window and began pulling both Ms Steel’s children and her own out of the house, with a nearby resident assisting in getting people out of the window.

It was at this point that Ms Steel’s daughter Jordan ran back into the house, which Ms Steel believes was an attempt to “try and save her little sister”.

Jordan, the young girl who passed away following a house fire at Rokeby on 19/01/2025. Picture: Supplied/GoFundMe

“I’m pretty sure she was gonna try and save her little sister, but she collapsed,” she said.

Jasmine Steel, Jess’ sister and the owner of the home, said she remembered tucking in Harlyn alongside her brother Braxton and Jordan in the living room, being woken the next morning to Jordan stating the house was on fire.

“I remember getting up and I went out into the little hallway area, which from my room, you could see straight down into the lounge room to where Harlan was sleeping,” she said.

“ I couldn’t see because it was really thick black smoke.

“As soon as I got into the hallway area, I listened and I heard Harlan cry for the last time and I didn’t get the chance to go out there because of the black smoke.”

Ms Steel said she tried to open a laundry door and smash a bathroom window in an attempt to try and get out, with her 14-year-old son, her one-year-old and niece Jordan.

It was only when Ms Steel saw her sister through her oldest son’s bedroom window “screaming with her head in her hands” that she managed to break through the glass – cutting her hand in the process.

“I got my one-year-old up, and I handed him to a bloke who had come running from the driveway down to the window who I yelled to take him.

“I was losing a lot of blood, and I felt light-headed, so I jumped out and then my 14 year old came out just behind me.

“I screamed at one of the blokes that Jordan was in the room, because we didn’t know she had left at that point.”

In what can only be described as a mother’s worst nightmare, Ms Steel stated she was unable to get close to the house due to the “wall of flames”, with the fire crews who arrived moments later only then able to retrieve both Jordan and Harlyn.

“They ran straight there and pulled my little girl out and they were pumping her little belly on the side of the road,” Ms Steel stated.

Harlyn, the infant girl who tragically died in a house fire at Rokeby on 19/01/2025. Picture: Supplied/GoFundMe

“They told me my Harlyn was deceased just before my sister left the area in the ambulance.”

Jordan, also pulled out by firefighters from the home, was in a serious condition and taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital, but Ms Steel said the hospital did not provide much hope of her survival.

“When I saw her, she was just a body, it wasn’t her,” she said.

Both sisters have moved into Jess’ home for the time being, with the remaining cousins left scarred by the incident.

“We’re not coping very well,” Jasmine said.

“My 14-year-old, we’re getting him into counselling because he’s not good and my one-year-old was best friends with Harlyn, so he’s not coping very well because he doesn’t have his best friend here anymore.”

Jasmine is currently being treated for a deep cut to her hand she suffered when she smashed the window. The glass cut through muscle and tendon and required surgery and ongoing physiotherapy.

Memorial balloon tribute. Picture: Caroline Tan

For mum Jess, the last memory of her daughter’s will be in their final actions.

“Jordan saved my sister’s life, she saved my sister and her two boys’ lives when she woke them up,” she said.

“She tried to protect Harlyn in that house too.”

A TFS fire investigation has determined there are no suspicious circumstances, with the fire originating in the lounge room.

Originally published as A mother’s heartbreak: The heartbreaking events leading to the death of her two daughters