Woman is killed in a fire at Truganina after townhouse goes up in flames
Arson police will investigate a home in Melbourne’s west after a woman died in a house fire last night.
Firefighters were called to Dover St in Truganina about 2.14am on Thursday where they found a three-storey townhouse engulfed in flames.
Crews attempted to search the home but were limited by the intensity of the fire.
Fire Rescue Victoria battled the fire for more than two hours and had the fire under control around 4.30am.
The building remained too hot for the fire brigade to enter in the hours that followed.
A woman was found dead at the scene, but her identity has yet to be formally established.
Emergency services initially suspected that there were two residents in the home, but now assume that only one woman was present at the time of the fire.
A Fire and Rescue spokesperson said the fire had caused a partial structural collapse of the building.
“The incident is being treated as suspicious and the scene has been transferred to Victoria Police,” the spokesperson said.
Firefighters worked all morning to bring a house fire under control that left one woman dead
Arson police have begun investigating the cause of the fire and have established a crime scene at the mansion
Police have cordoned off a crime scene at the scene.
Arson chemists will further investigate the cause of the fire.
The Herald Sun reported that a nearby resident was in her backyard around 2 a.m. when she heard loud, back-to-back bangs.
“It sounded like fireworks,” Fatima Dibb said.
Mrs Dibb claimed she could see the flames rising high above the roof of the mansion.
‘The roof was completely engulfed. It was brutal.’
“It was quite disturbing, knowing that people might have been there.”
The municipality warned of smoke in the immediate area.
Police have urged anyone with information to come forward by contacting Crime Stoppers.
There’s more to come.
A local resident said she heard loud bangs after 2 a.m. and saw the house go up in flames