A man in his 60s is fighting for life after a suspicious fire tore through a home in Sydney’s west on Saturday morning.
Police are investigating reports of multiple people seen fleeing the scene of the house fire on Chelsea Drive, in Canley Heights, about 5.45am.
Firefighters attended and extinguished the blaze and one man – aged in his 60s – was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition with significant burns and injuries to his limbs.
Fire and Rescue NSW Inspector Chris Hughes said the blaze had already engulfed the house when crews arrived, and it was possible there were multiple ignition sites for the fire.
“Crews have found that the fire was quite rapid and we were able to extinguish it with three trucks,” he said.
Hughes said a specialist dog team – trained to detect flammable liquid – was at the scene helping to locate ignition points.
NSW Police Acting Inspector David McInerney said officers were investigating whether several people fled the scene of the blaze.
“We are still trying to piece together exactly what’s happened, but it appears to be suspicious from what we can see,” he said.
“There’s a possibility that there are several people involved and at this stage we’re appealing to the public if they have any dash cam or CCTV footage to contact police.”
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