Interstate News:Cause of fatal house fire unknown
Oct 5, 2010
DETECTIVES still don’t know what caused a fatal house fire in Coffs Harbour.
The ferocious blaze in a three-bedroom brick home in Oriana Street claimed the life of a 60-year-old grandmother.
Police were not releasing her name yesterday because she was yet to be positively identified. A post mortem examination is due in Newcastle this week.
Detectives are awaiting advice from crime scene police and fire investigators on what sparked the blaze.
It is understood the woman had been living in the home with one of her two daughters, but her family was away at the time of the fire.
A neighbour contacted triple-0 at 3.45pm on Saturday when he saw what he described as a “furnace” coming out of the centre bedroom.
“I would say it was going for a fair while before I noticed it. It was a red ball,” the man told the Advocate.
“Her family was away in Sydney and I wasn’t sure if anyone was home. I rang her ex-husband and he said she was there and he came to the house.”
Coffs Harbour Fire Station crews saw the smoke from a kilometre away as they rushed to the scene.
They forced entry and had to combat intense heat as they attacked the blaze in the bedroom. They found the woman dead on her bedroom floor.
The rest of the house had extensive fire, heat and smoke damage.
The fire is not considered suspicious.
Source: The Coffs Coast Advocate