Woman dies in Sydney house fire
FIRST ON 7: One woman is dead and a mother and son are in hospital tonight after a house was all but destroyed by fire at Mount Colah in Sydney's north.
Two people, the 54-year-old mother and her 16-year-old escaped with smoke inhalation and singed hair.
But one person, believed to be a 30-year-old autistic woman was trapped inside the house.
The blaze started just before 3.30pm on the upper level of the two-storey brick and tile home on Lancelot Street.
It was well alight when fire services arrived. Eleven crews responded.
One fireman was seen breaking the window of what appears to be a downstairs flat, but he could not get in.
Then, without stopping to put on breathing equipment the man dashed up the back stairs and into the burning house.
It was already filled with black smoke, as flames erupted through the roof.
"[Crews] did everything they could to get in, they were driven back by intense heat," Fire and Rescue NSW’s Kim Simpson said.
Neighbouring homes in the area around Foxglove Oval were evacuated as a precaution.
Two occupants, a woman and her teen son were found suffering from smoke inhalation.
They were treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Hornsby Hospital.
But one person, related to the pair was missing.
Detective Inspector Ian Mitchell later confirmed that the woman's body had been found.
“Unfortunately I can confirm that there is an adult deceased person within the house, and as such police are making extensive inquiries,” he said.
