Man who died in house fire found beneath stack of books
A man has died after becoming trapped in a house fire in Sydney’s northwest, despite the desperate efforts of fire crews who cut through barbed wire and piles of rubbish to extinguish the blaze.
Firefighters arrived at the scene at Putney within eight minutes, but it took them around 30 minutes just to find the victim.
They had to navigate through piles of rubbish and eventually spotted the 50-year-old man lying beneath a stack of books.
Paramedics pulled him from the burning home and desperately tried to revive him, but his injuries were too severe. He died at Concord Hospital.
The thick smoke took its toll on everyone. In the time it took to find the man lying unconscious on the first floor of his home, fire crews also found three dogs and several snakes dead.
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Three next-door neighbours were also taken to hospital suffering breathing difficulties, including one man in a wheelchair.
“One of our fire crews who found the male person has been transported to hospital via ambulance as a precaution, from heat exhaustion,” Inspector Bradley Smith said.
“The issue for firefighters was the amount of hoarding of items found inside the building.”
Fire investigators and police believe the fire started in the garage and spread through the three-storey home. But they don’t yet know how it was started and haven’t ruled out foul play.
