By CASEY NEILL
A DANDENONG toddler has died in a fire, locked inside his Potter Street home.
Detective Sergeant Lionel Joseph said the three-year-old boy’s mother “left the premises to attend to some innocent duties outside” about 10.30am last Friday, 7 February.
“As she did, she chose to leave her son inside, the door locked and secured to prevent him from coming out in the heat,” he said.
“After about 10 minutes of her being outside, and attending to some moving some furniture around and rubbish, she looked at the premises and observed fire and smoke coming from the unit.”
Sgt Joseph said the single mother was unable to get back inside.
“The fire had taken hold and the heat and the smoke was just too strong for her to gain access,” he said.
“She’s obviously fairly distraught at the moment. She’s assisting investigators with their inquiries.
“She’s not physically injured.”
He said neighbours observed the fire, rushed to assist and called emergency services.
He described those who assisted as “heroic”.
“Again, they were unable to gain access to the premises, both from the front door and the rear,” he said.
“The fire brigade extinguished the fire and located the deceased boy.
“The child will be taken away to the Coroner’s Court for a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.”
Sgt Joseph said it was too early to determine the fire’s cause and origin.
“We’re appealing for anyone who did assist or was in the vicinity or did pass by at the time of the fire to contact us or Crime Stoppers with any additional information available so we can piece together what happened,” he said.
He said any death resulting from a fire was a traumatic experience for emergency services personnel.
“A child compounds the effects,” he said.
“It certainly highlights the message – don’t leave your children home alone, locked in, whether it be a house or a car.”
Sharon Harris lives in nearby Carson Street and was at her letterbox when she saw “huge, big red flames” coming from the building.
“I saw them bring the lady out and take her to a car,” she said.
“I knew something was wrong because she was very upset.
“I was worried because it’s mostly older people or younger families in those units.
“The roof was just caving in.”
Police will prepare a report for the Coroner.
