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The tragic events surrounding a house fire have taken a disturbing turn as new details emerge about the father’s behavior during the crisis. In a recent inquest, witnesses described the father’s unusual detachment as his young son cried out in agony from the flames.
Two police officers, arriving at the scene around 8 p.m., were among the first to testify. Their accounts paint a troubling picture of the father’s response—or lack thereof—during the emergency.
Sergeant Peter Rumford recounted the moment he arrived, drawn by the sight of blood on the patio and the heart-wrenching cries of children. Searching the property, he located the father in the bathroom of the main house.
“He didn’t provide me with any information,” Rumford revealed during the inquest. The sergeant expressed his surprise at the father’s behavior, noting, “I found it weird or peculiar that while his two sons were screaming and wailing, he was standing in the shower with a cigarette in his hand.”
“I found it weird or peculiar that while his two sons were screaming and wailing he was standing in the shower with a cigarette in his hand.”
The father and the boy’s younger brother also suffered burns during the fire in a dwelling about 150 metres behind the property’s main residence.
The two boys were seriously burned and were sitting on a sofa while wrapped in sheets or towels but their father had lesser injuries, Fairweather heard.
One or both of the boys were making a sound like he’d never heard before, Rumford said, adding they were “unrecognisable” due to their injuries.
Senior Constable Andrew Bell testified he recorded audio and video during his time at the fire scene using a non-police issue body camera.
The father said “I don’t remember anything. I just woke up and the house was on fire,” Bell said.
“He told me his (ex-partner) was probably responsible … if police had to point the finger at anyone.”
The father had a minimum level of interaction with his injured children, Bell said.
“I don’t recall anything a father would normally do, interacting with them or calming them or giving them any reassurances.
“He was essentially disconnected from them. There essentially wasn’t any connection I would expect or having concern for them.”
Bell said he could not recall the father asking him about the health of the boys in the minutes before an ambulance arrived.
One of the people who lived in the main house said they smelled smoke and heard a loud bang before looking outside to see the second dwelling on fire, Rumford said.
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