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Deputy Chief Fire Officer Josh Fischer says firefighters rescued a young child from an engulfed home in Alice Springs but despite their best efforts the child died · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: In what can only be described as an absolute tragedy,
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  Speaker 1: A young child's died in a structure fire that occurred
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  Speaker 1: in Alice Springs early yesterday, just after ten thirty in
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  Speaker 1: the morning. Emergency services were called to that structure fire
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  Speaker 1: in Lara Pinter following reports that a person was trapped
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  Speaker 1: inside the residents. Now joining me on the show is
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service Deputy Chief Fire
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  Speaker 1: Officer Joshua Fisher. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Josh Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Can you tell me we'll talk me through what unfolded yesterday.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, as you mentioned, a real tragic incident occurred in
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  Speaker 3: Alice Springs in the suburb of Larapinter so soon around
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  Speaker 3: ten thirty yesterday morning, emergency services were alerted to report
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  Speaker 3: of a structure fire, a single story structure fire with
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  Speaker 3: smoke showing from that property. What we understand at this
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  Speaker 3: point in time is there's reports of people trapped inside
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  Speaker 3: that house.
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  Speaker 2: We understand that.
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  Speaker 3: Police were the first driving members that arrived on scene.
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  Speaker 3: Neighbors thankfully went to the aid of an older child
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  Speaker 3: and they rescued that child from that residence.
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  Speaker 2: Police, a number of police.
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  Speaker 3: Did enter the structure but were quickly overwhelmed in terms
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  Speaker 3: of smoke and as such themselves have been treated for
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  Speaker 3: smoke in elation at the Al Springs Hospital. Shortly after
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  Speaker 3: firefighters arrived and they were informed that there was still
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  Speaker 3: an unaccounted child. Within two minutes they've entered that residence
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  Speaker 3: wherein breathing apparatus, they've undertaken a primary search and unfortunately
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  Speaker 3: they did locate a child. They brought that child outside,
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  Speaker 3: they commenced CPR. The child was then transferred into the
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  Speaker 3: care of Saint John Ambulance and transported to the El
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  Speaker 3: Springs Hospital. But unfortunately medical intervention was unsuccessful and that
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  Speaker 3: child did pass away.
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  Speaker 1: Honestly, it is absolutely tragic to hear then to hear
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  Speaker 1: that obviously there's an older child there as well. Thankfully
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  Speaker 1: that child was out of the house, got out of
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  Speaker 1: the house and he's okay. Josh, I'm not sure what
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  Speaker 1: level of detail you're able to go into at this point,
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  Speaker 1: but do we have any idea of the child's age
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  Speaker 1: that had passed or it sounds as though they were
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  Speaker 1: quite young.
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  Speaker 3: Look, I can confirm that the child was under the
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  Speaker 3: age of five. However, formal identification is still taking place.
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  Speaker 3: And obviously we're working with the family and the next
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  Speaker 3: of kin and obviously the investigation. In terms of the
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  Speaker 3: fire investigation, a crime scene has been declared and both
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  Speaker 3: agencies are working with the coroner's constable.
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  Speaker 1: Do we know if it was just the two children
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  Speaker 1: that were at the house at that point or is
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  Speaker 1: that information still sort of being gathered.
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  Speaker 3: Also, Look, we've got a fire investigator and detectives from
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  Speaker 3: regional crime and as I mentioned, a con is constable
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  Speaker 3: or all investigating the circumstances around this incident. There is
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  Speaker 3: a crime scene, there is a police investigation being undertaken.
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  Speaker 2: There are a number of witnesses.
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  Speaker 3: As I mentioned, there were some neighbors that alerted and
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  Speaker 3: called Triple zero and did go to the aid of
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  Speaker 3: another child that was at that residence, an older child. Look,
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  Speaker 3: we'll continue to work through that over the coming days
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  Speaker 3: and we'll have a clearer picture around the entire circumstances soon.
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  Speaker 1: So obviously full investigation is underway. Do we have any
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  Speaker 1: idea at this point in time what's caused that fire.
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  Speaker 3: No, Look, at this point in time, we haven't ruled
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  Speaker 3: anything out. We've got an additional fire investigators being deployed
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  Speaker 3: from Dalwin this morning, Dan Tulla Springs to provide some
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  Speaker 3: additional oversight to our investigation. As I mentioned, we've got
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  Speaker 3: Regional Crime are their assisting as well. So look, we'll
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  Speaker 3: know a little bit more as they start to go
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  Speaker 3: through that incident and start to determine where the seat
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  Speaker 3: of the fire was and then the probable causes that
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  Speaker 3: led to this tragic circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: Do we know if there was fire alarms or anything
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  Speaker 1: at the house.
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  Speaker 2: Not at this point in time.
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  Speaker 3: That will form part of that investigation and we'll piece
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  Speaker 3: that together.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, this is such a tragic and heartbreaking situation
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  Speaker 1: for so many reasons. But I honestly I can't imagine
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  Speaker 1: how the police felt trying to get into that home,
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  Speaker 1: and then how the fire is felt upon discovering that
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  Speaker 1: there was a little person under the age of five
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  Speaker 1: still inside that home. It's utterly heartbreaking. How are all
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  Speaker 1: of those frontline workers going at this point?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, you're right, this is really a difficult incident
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  Speaker 3: to deal with for any first responder and obviously members
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  Speaker 3: of the community and the family themselves. You know, we've
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  Speaker 3: got some really strong support around our people. Both the
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  Speaker 3: first arriving police officers and our firefighters. The police, Fire
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  Speaker 3: and Emergency Services chaplain was with our firefighters yesterday afternoon
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  Speaker 3: back on station talking with them. We've got other support
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  Speaker 3: mechanisms around, but an incident of this nature is going
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  Speaker 3: to be with them forever.
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  Speaker 2: This is something that they're certainly never going to forget.
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  Speaker 3: This is really horrific and something that no first responder
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  Speaker 3: wants to ever have to deal with.
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  Speaker 1: No, you're spot on, and the loss of life is
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  Speaker 1: an absolute tragedy in any situation. But when you talk
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  Speaker 1: about a young child, I mean, I know you and
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  Speaker 1: I both parents. There's so many parents, caregivers, grandparents that
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  Speaker 1: listen to this show. It is utterly heartbreaking. Yeah, what's
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  Speaker 1: gone on now? You did mention a moment ago that
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  Speaker 1: some of the police that arrived on the scene in
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  Speaker 1: the first instance then had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
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  Speaker 1: Do we have any idea how they're going at this point?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, my understanding at this point in time is
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  Speaker 3: that they are okay. So they did enter the house
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  Speaker 3: and they did become overcome very quickly with smoke, and
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  Speaker 3: they were treated at the l Springs Hospital for smoke inhalation.
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  Speaker 3: I guess This talks to the dangers that are involved
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  Speaker 3: in fighting structure fires. This is why the Fire and
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  Speaker 3: Rescue Service trains. This is why we have the equipment
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  Speaker 3: that we have and the efforts of our firefighters who
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  Speaker 3: upon arrival, wearing their protective clothing, wearing the breathing apparatus,
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  Speaker 3: we're able to safely gain entry into the premises, locate
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  Speaker 3: the child and bring them outside. And as we know,
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  Speaker 3: unfortunately that child was unable to be revived.
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  Speaker 2: But these are the dangers that we face.
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  Speaker 3: And I guess this talk to the importance around having
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  Speaker 3: a home fire safety plan, insurance that there are working
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  Speaker 3: smoke detectors, that we are communicating to our children and
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  Speaker 3: our family around what to do in the event that
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  Speaker 3: a smoke army is activated or we find that there's
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  Speaker 3: a fire in our home.
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  Speaker 2: We need to be safe.
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  Speaker 1: Josh, just very quickly, you did say that there is
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  Speaker 1: a fire investigator traveling from Darwin to Alice Springs. Are
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  Speaker 1: there going to be sort of additional any additional staff
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  Speaker 1: sent to Alice at this point or is that all
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  Speaker 1: that's required right now?
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  Speaker 3: So that fire investigator is our fire investigator coordinator for
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Territory. So they've gone down to provide that
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  Speaker 3: additional support to our Springs based fire investigator that's working
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  Speaker 3: on this matter. In terms of additional support for Ali
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  Speaker 3: Springs firefighting crews, we continually examine and look at our rostering.
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  Speaker 2: In terms of Ola Springs.
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  Speaker 3: We do have some additional resources that will be rostered
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  Speaker 3: down there to fill any gaps that we have in
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  Speaker 3: that operational ten to fourteen shift roster, and as ordinarily,
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  Speaker 3: we continue to look at our numbers right across the board.
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  Speaker 1: Josh, I really appreciate you coming in this morning. I
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  Speaker 1: know that it's an incredibly tough morning for absolutely everybody involved.
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  Speaker 1: For the community of Ella Springs. It is utterly heartbreaking.
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  Speaker 1: For the family of that little person. I can't even
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  Speaker 1: imagine the heartbreak that they must be feeling at this point,
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  Speaker 1: But certainly on behalf of the whole community, we're thinking
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  Speaker 1: of those fires and of those police officers, all of
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  Speaker 1: the first responders, the ambos well an incredibly difficult time,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, we tip our hats when we talk
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  Speaker 1: about the incredible work that they do, but I think
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  Speaker 1: when something like this occurs, you understand just how difficult
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  Speaker 1: those jobs.
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  Speaker 3: Can be exactly and why we need to have the
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  Speaker 3: support around our people and ensure that we've got appropriate
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  Speaker 3: well being strategies in place to support them. You know,
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  Speaker 3: I would like to pass my condolences on to the
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  Speaker 3: family of their child. It would be absolutely heartbreaking for
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  Speaker 3: them right now, but I know that our first responders
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  Speaker 3: did absolutely everything they could. From the police officers through
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  Speaker 3: the Saint John Ambulance paramedics through to the firefighters. Everyone
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  Speaker 3: did their job and they did the very best that
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  Speaker 3: they could in the circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: Deputy Chief Fire Officer Josh Fisher always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for speaking with us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Gadie.