A nine-year-old boy is dead and a woman is under police guard after a suspicious house fire in Toowoomba, Queensland.
Flames broke out at a home in Harristown at 12.30am today.
Six people — a 34-year-old man, a 36-year-old woman and four children aged four, seven, 11 and 18 — managed to escape.
Witness Miles Blum told 9News he saw people inside breaking windows to try to flee the burning home.
“I know that some of the adults were trying to get back in in the house once they got out,” Blum said.
“We could hear a name getting screamed,” neighbour Will Cuff said.
Neighbours rushed to help and called triple zero.
“The smoke was just too thick, you couldn’t really do much. You just had to wait out here and calm everybody down,” Cuff said.
Neil Goodman, from the Queensland Fire Service, said crews faced intense conditions when they arrived.
“Crews were initially met with a wall of flame and significant heat. Crews had quite a difficult time getting access to the front of the building,” he said.
The fire was extinguished and a body believed to be a nine-year-old boy was found inside.
Police are treating the fire as suspicious.
The woman was flown to the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital with serious injuries, where she remains in critical condition and under police guard.
The man was taken to Toowoomba Base Hospital with serious injuries and remains there in a stable condition.
A four-year-old girl and a seven-year-old girl were flown to the Queensland Children’s Hospital where they remain in a critical condition.
An 18-year-old man was taken to Toowoomba Base Hospital where he has been treated for non-life threatening injuries.
An 11-year-old boy was uninjured.
The house remains a crime scene and is being forensically examined. The homicide investigation unit is assisting.
Police said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.
Anybody with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.
