'A firefighter's worst nightmare' as multiple deaths confirmed after fire breaks out in nursing home
NSW Police say three people have died in a fire at Quakers Hill Nursing Home with more than 50 being taken to hospital.
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Three deaths, multiple injuries
Blaze treated as 'suspicious'
Fire crews on hands and knees in very heavy smoke
Daughter's rush to elderly mother
Neighbours rush to help
Australia's worst fire fatalities
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The victims of a horrific fire that engulfed a Sydney nursing home with thick smoke this morning were all found congregated in a rear ward after being cut off from the rest of the building by a fire door.
Firefighters were confronted by a horrific scene at the Quakers Hill Nursing Home in north-west Sydney this morning, with three elderly residents dead and dozens left seriously injured by the fire and smoke.
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Anguish shows on the face of a resident after being evacuated from the nursing home. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins described the scene as "chaotic" and "tragic" as more than 100 fire crews, police and ambulance officers arrived at the nursing home on Hambledon Road, Quakers Hill, just after 5am.
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"This is a firefighter's worst nightmare," Mr Mullins said. "Turning up to a nursing home with elderly people who can't get themselves out of harm's way."
Residents are cared for by emergency crews after being evacuated from the nursing home. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Robert Redfern confirmed three people were found dead, well down on early reports that up to 10 might have died.
Superintendent Rick Parkes of Fire and Rescue NSW said the victims were found in a six-room ward at the rear of the nursing home.
The likely cause of death was smoke inhalation, Mr Redfern said.
Rescue crews treat one of the injured residents from the Quakers Hill Nursing Home. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
Superintendent Parkes said the rear ward was separated from the other parts of the single-storey home when a fire door came down to stop the blaze from spreading.
50 taken to hospital
NSW Ambulance said 50 people with smoke inhalation were taken to nine hospitals - including the Nepean, Blacktown, Mount Druitt and Westmead hospitals - after the fire, which broke out in two rooms.
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Nursing home fire
The scene at the nursing home in Quakers Hill after a fire broke out in the nursing home. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
NSW Ambulance acting Commissioner Mike Willis said eight patients were in a serious condition.
Mr Willis said 44 residents had been moved to Lottie Stewart Hospital for residential care and a total of 79 people are receiving residential care in hospitals around Sydney.
There were no burns patients, Superintendent Parkes added.
Quakers Hill, NSW, Australia
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The blaze took hold at a nursing home on Hambleton Road, Quakers Hill. View Larger Map
There were up to 100 residents in the nursing home and all have now been removed.
'Suspicious' fire
Police were treating the fire as "suspicious" and the homicide and arson squads had joined fire investigators and forensic officers at the home, Mr Redfern said.
But he stressed that "all fires such as this" were considered suspicious.
"The homicide squad will lead the investigation," Mr Redfern said.
Police said officers from the the homicide and arson squads were at the site and would be joined by the coroner.
Fire investigators and police forensics teams were at the nursing home, Fire and Rescue NSW said.
The cause of the fire was not yet known but firefighters said, when they arrived, there were two fires at different parts of the home.
"Flames were coming out of the roof at one end of the building and they immediately called for back-up," Mr Willis said, adding that black smoke went down to the bottom of the floor.
"The fire has destroyed beds, every bit of furniture ... fire spread through the roof to other rooms."
He said one of the fires started in a bedroom.
The NSW State Coroner Mary Jerram arrived to examine the nursing home about 10.30am, and had been briefed by police.
Firefighters 'on hands and knees'
Mr Mullins told reporters earlier the fire had been put out but the smoke in the building was very heavy.
"Crews had to literally crawl on their hands and knees into every room in the complex, reach up under the beds, searching cupboards, anywhere where someone may have crawled away," he said.
"So it has taken quite some time because of the thick black smoke to confirm that we had all of the residents cleared."
He added: "You can imagine what it would be like for elderly people in their night clothes, some of them suffering from dementia."
A neighbour who lives over the fence from the nursing home said firefighters jumped into her yard to use her hose to spray down elderly people in beds.
"There were a couple of people in beds ... they were covered in a lot of soot and I would assume they were hosing them as a precaution," said the neighbour, who asked not to be named.
She said it was lucky there was a fire station so close by.
"The fire station hasn't been here all that long. We could have lost a lot more people."
Mr Mullins said police and paramedics arrived "en masse".
"It was a real team effort," he said. "A bit like a military operation ... crews from throughout Sydney have responded."
Mr Mullins said the firefighters' job was made even harder by a roof collapse.
"[They] had tiles falling on their heads, so it's too unstable for investigators to get into the room that was most badly affected."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/a-firefighters-worst-nightmare-as-multiple-deaths-c...
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