The father of two toddlers who died after a fire destroyed a garden shed has broken his silence, saying he is ‘absolutely heartbroken’.
Kane McGregor’s youngest children – Saige, three, and Ashlynn, 18 months – died on Sunday morning when a sofa in a garden shed at their home in Corio, south-west of Melbourne, caught fire.
Their older siblings, Isaac, five, and Mavis, six, were pulled from the burning barn by their desperate mother, Jasmine Beck, who could not reach the youngest two.
Isaac and Mavis are currently in intensive care with life-threatening burns covering most of their bodies.
Mavis and Isaac (center and right) are in intensive care with severe burns. Ashlynn and Saige (front, as a baby and left) died in the fire
Pictured: The barn where two children, Ashlynn and Saige, died Sunday morning. Mavis and Isaac were seriously injured
Mr McGregor said the only thing keeping him together was ‘holding on and fighting for’ his two surviving children.
“The worst 36 hours of my life, absolutely heartbroken when I had to let go of my two youngest babies,” Mr Mcgreor wrote on Facebook.
“The only thing keeping me together is holding on and fighting for my other two. Come on Mavis and Isaac, you’re both so strong and way too stubborn to give in, so keep fighting the winning fight.”
He added: “RIP Wiggles and Saigey, I love you two so much.”
Isaac and Mavis were taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a critical condition, accompanied by Mr McGregor.
Kane McGregor (pictured) is ‘absolutely heartbroken’ after his two youngest children – Saige, three, and Ashlynn, 18 months – died when a sofa caught fire in a garden shed at their home in Corio, southwest of Melbourne, on A fire broke out on Sunday morning
Jasmine Beck is pictured with her four children: Mavis, six, Isaac, five, Saige, three, and Ashlynn, 18 months
On Monday afternoon, their uncle Anthony McGregor said the siblings are fighting for life with serious injuries.
“A fire broke out in a shed in Geelong (with) four children inside,” he wrote on one GoFundMe campaign.
‘Unfortunately, heaven has gained two beautiful angels.
‘The two eldest siblings Mavis McGregor and Isaac McGregor are currently in intensive care and have suffered burns to most of their bodies,
“The road to recovery will be extensive and continuous. I hope to take the financial burden off their loving parents Jasmine and Kane.”
Victorian Police said on Monday afternoon that detectives from the Arson and Explosives Squad are investigating the incident. They continue to treat it as non-suspicious.
Earlier on Monday, Anthony told The Age newspaper that Mrs Beck is distraught. “She’s destroyed,” he said.
‘She doesn’t manage herself. She’s trying to be the best mother she can be right now and be there to support her children who are suffering.”
The children’s aunt, Sarah Guardiano, said the mother of four “did her utmost best” to get the children out of the shed as quickly as possible.
“Getting all those babies out, as you can imagine, you know, having to call the fire department, put out a fire and get your kids out,” she said.
“She did her best to get them all out as quickly as possible.”
Police Inspector Emma Bartel said on Sunday that neighbors tried to rescue the children before emergency services arrived.
Pictured: Neighbors left tributes and toys for the surviving children in front of the house
Officers spoke to Ms Beck but Inspector Bartel said she was unable to provide further details.
Inspector Bartel said investigators ‘owed’ it to the family to discover what caused the fire.
“This is unfortunately the worst-case scenario of what we can expect in an incident like this,” she said.
“We talked to a family and we talked to neighbors. We’re trying to piece together the events of what happened.
“We can only do our best to support the family and do our best to give them answers.”
A report will be prepared for the coroner.