By Cassandra Morgan and Hannah Kennelly
The Coroners Court of Victoria has launched an investigation into the deaths of two young girls after a devastating house fire in Melbourne’s north-west earlier this month, while the only child to survive was discharged from hospital on Wednesday.
Siblings Lyvia, 21 months, and Izabel, 5, died in hospital last week, three days after they were pulled unconscious from a single-storey brick home on Fergus Court in Sydenham up to 30 minutes after the blaze began.
The coroner will investigate the deaths of two children after a house fire in Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west.Credit: Joe Armao
Police are investigating whether the mother was home at the time, and a social worker has said the father flagged concerns in the months before the blaze.
A Coroners Court spokeswoman confirmed there was an active investigation into the children’s deaths.
“The deaths of two children following a fire at a property in Sydenham on Sunday, September 8, have been referred to the court for investigation,” the spokeswoman said.
An inquest is yet to be scheduled.
Kalais, 3, is the only surviving child of the Sydenham house fire.
The only child to survive the fire, three-year-old Kalais, woke from an induced coma at the Royal Children’s Hospital on Friday. He was discharged on Wednesday after a 10-day stay, his father Jayde Petalas said.
“I’m really happy about it. I’m glad he’s OK,” Petalas told The Age.
A support service practitioner, speaking on the condition of anonymity because she feared retribution from her employer, said Petalas had complained about the children’s welfare before the fatal fire.
The practitioner, who works with family violence and child support service The Orange Door, said the organisation’s Brimbank-Melton service had assisted the family in recent months.
Petalas complained the children were being left home alone and that nobody was listening to his concerns, the woman said.
Petalas told The Age he brought those issues up with the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH). He said he had previously expressed concern his son was being left alone with his siblings while the children’s mother, Shania Lee, went out.
The case was identified as involving “significant risks”, the support worker – who did not manage the family’s case but had knowledge of it – said.
However, The Orange Door did not attend the home to check on the children in-person because of safety risks, the worker said.
Emergency crews pulled a dog from the Sydenham home hours after the fire.Credit: Joe Armao
“[The Orange Door doesn’t] have to go to the house but when we have kids aged under three years we should be making every effort [to do so],” she said.
“So many people [were involved] and not one person had actually gone over to deal with anything. This was a preventable death.”
The Orange Door did not check whether the children were attending school or childcare, the practitioner said.
The practitioner said inadequate resourcing and inexperienced staff had contributed to The Orange Door’s handling of the family’s case, symptomatic of wider problems within Victoria’s child protection system.
A DFFH spokesperson — also speaking on behalf of The Orange Door — said the department does not comment on individual cases.
“Our thoughts are with the family involved in this tragic incident,” they said in a statement.
Police said this week there was no update in their investigation into the cause of the house fire. They have not confirmed the nature of their investigation.
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