Justice · Abbotsford house fireAbbotsford house fire: Four hospitalised after ladder rescue, police suspect arsonAired October 27, 2026 at 12:55 AM UTCWritten October 27, 2026 at 12:58 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:07A civilian and police rescued an eighty-eight-year old woman from a burning house.0:11Four people needed hospital care after the Abbotsford fire, and flames damaged an0:15adjoining home.0:16Police suspect arson and are trying to determine who was responsible and whether the0:20house was targeted.0:21Emergency services received multiple triple zero calls about the fire on Weddell0:25Avenue in Sydney's Inner West.0:27They were called about four twenty in the morning on Tuesday, October0:30twenty-seventh.0:31The woman was rescued by ladder while the house was alight.0:34A forty-nine-year old man climbed a ladder to help save her, and police officers0:38joined the rescue.0:39One officer had graduated in August, just two months earlier, and climbed while the0:43house was completely alight.0:51Police superintendent Christine MacDonald said the woman would have died without the0:54efforts of the civilian and the officers.0:56The woman, her son, and his wife were treated for smoke inhalation and taken to1:00hospital.1:00The forty-nine-year old rescuer was also hospitalized, but his particular injury1:05hasn't been specified.1:06Their individual conditions haven't been confirmed.1:09A fifth person, a man who'd rented at the home for a long time, received treatment1:14at the scene and didn't need hospital care.1:16Flames spread into an adjoining house before firefighters stopped their advance1:19inside it.1:19Neighboring residents were told to evacuate.1:22The original home was described as destroyed, but crews were still putting out1:25flames there later that morning.1:27Fire and Rescue New South Wales described a rapidly expanding fire.1:30Acting superintendent Peter Murray gave an operational count of forty firefighters1:35and ten trucks.1:36Crews were still working toward handing the main house over to police.1:39Tea here is no confirmed all, clear or word on when residents could safely return.1:44Police are looking for a man they say was wearing a balaclava and left in a red hold1:48in Astra.1:48MacDonald said a neighbor confronted him while he was setting the house alight1:52before he got away.1:53Police believe the man used an accelerant, a substance that helps a fire burn, and1:57suffered burns.1:58Those remain police suspicions.2:00The neighbor who confronted him and the hospitalized man who helped with the rescue2:03haven't been identified as the same person.2:05Police say they don't believe the occupants have criminal links.2:08They're working closely with the household as they investigate.2:11They're still seeking the man described at the scene, and haven't determined whether2:14the house was targeted.2:16Investigators are asking nearby residents to check their CCTV.2:19The appeal stretches from the vicinity of Great North Road in Abbotsford to Lyons2:23Road in Russell Leah.2:24Police haven't supplied a precise time window for that footage.2:27That area is where police want footage to help trace the man's movements.2:31Officers were also canvassing near Blackwell Point, the direction in which the red2:35car was reportedly seen heading.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗
