Police guard man after kids die in ‘devastating’ fire in Sydney

Investigators are returning to a devastating scene in a bid to make sense of it as a man, who allegedly “frustrated” attempts to rescue his children from a burning home where three died, remains in an induced coma.

The 28-year-old man, who is yet to be charged, remained under police guard in hospital in a critical condition on Sunday night.

The man is the father of the three children who died in the blaze, police confirmed on Sunday.

Four other children and their mother were being treated in hospital and were expected to survive, police said.

Investigations will continue for some time, with dogs brought in to identify potential accelerants as police rake through the scene.

Neighbours and emergency services rushed to the Lalor Park home in Sydney’s west about 1am on Sunday as it was engulfed by fire.

Two boys, aged 3 and 6, were rescued from the burning home but died a short time later.

The body of the third child, a 10-month-old girl, was found after firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Investigators would return to the property on Monday, with a lot of work to do to determine what happened, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty told reporters.

“However, at this stage, it does appear that the 28-year-old man is responsible for multiple deaths of young lives that have been tragically taken away,” he said on Sunday.

Detectives are treating the incident as a domestic-related multiple homicide, he said.

Attempts to enter the burning home were allegedly met with resistance as police officers and a neighbour heroically tried to rescue children from the fire, acting Superintendent Jason Pietruszka said.

Forensic officers, Fire and Rescue Officers and police investigate a fire damaged house in Lalor Park in Sydney. Photo / AAP

“I can confirm during police attempts to get into the property, those efforts were frustrated by a male inside.

“That male has been arrested.”

Their efforts prevented the loss of more lives, he said, but the fire and the death of three children would have a long-lasting impact.

“There’s no other word for it,” Pietruszka said.

“It’s completely and utterly devastating.”