House Fire in Werribee Results in Child Fatality and Serious Injury
A child has died and a man sustained serious injuries following a house fire in Melbourne's south-west suburb of Werribee in the early hours of Monday morning.
Emergency services responded to a fire at a residence on Newbury Street shortly after midnight. Fire crews extinguished the blaze and subsequently discovered the child deceased inside the home, according to Victoria police.
A male occupant of the house was transported to hospital with serious injuries.
Fire Rescue Victoria reported that firefighters arrived at the scene within three minutes of the call. By that time, the single-storey brick house was fully engulfed in flames.
It took approximately one hour and the efforts of 40 firefighters to bring the fire under control.
The cause of the fire is under investigation; however, police have stated that the incident is not being treated as suspicious. An arson chemist is scheduled to attend the scene to assist with the investigation.
According to ABC, firefighters were initially informed that children were trapped inside the burning house, though some managed to escape.
Support services, including peer support and counselling, have been made available to first responders involved in managing the incident.
