Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators plan to further examine the scene of a fatal weekend fire at Punchbowl, in Sydney’s west, in a bid to determine the cause.
The fire broke out on the top floor of the two-storey townhouse in Highclere Avenue around 10 pm on Saturday night (26 August). Three people were downstairs eating a meal when thick smoke began billowing through the home.
NSW Ambulance paramedics
A man and a woman made it safely outside while the third resident, a 54-year-old man, grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed upstairs to douse the flames. He was quickly overcome by smoke. Emergency services, including around a dozen fire engines, rushed to the scene.
Firefighters carried the unconscious man from the building. They joined NSW Ambulance paramedics in applying CPR but were unable to revive the man. While a number of damaged lithium-ion batteries were found in the ruins of the townhouse, fire investigators will seek to determine whether they were responsible for the blaze. The upper level of the home was destroyed. It's the eighth death due to residential fires in NSW this winter.
