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November 18th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Updated
Emergency workers at the scene of a fatal fire at a western Sydney nursing home say it could take weeks to find out if the blaze was deliberately lit.
Eighty-eight residents were in the home at Quakers Hill when it was gutted by fire just before 5:00am (AEDT).
Three people died in the blaze and 32 have been taken to hospital with smoke inhalation and burns, with 14 in intensive care.
Firefighters are trying to stabilise the building so investigators and forensic experts can move in.
Investigators on scene say it appears the fire began in two places and homicide detectives have also been called in.
But Acting Police Commissioner Catherine Burn says it is too early to speculate on the cause.
Ms Burn says structural damage to the building may mean it could be days before forensic experts can access the internal rooms.
“This is in the very, very early stages of an investigation. At the moment we are treating this as a coronial matter. The coroner has attended the scene,” she said.
“It’s still a very dangerous fire ground in there – only 15 minutes ago parts of the roof have collapsed in so at this particular point it’s just too early to speculate.”
Meanwhile, Police Superintendant Rob Redfern has praised two officers who raced into the burning nursing home without protective equipment to save residents.
“The commissioner and the deputy commissioner have just met with two very young police, one of them a probationary constable, shirts covered in soot and dirt from the fire, who were instrumental, in my view, in saving lives. They are heroes in anybody’s language,” he said.
Family fears
Police have yet to release details of those killed in the blaze, and family members of residents have been frantically trying to track down their loved ones.
Melinda Champion, office manager of Quakers Hills Anglican Church, said some of the residents had been taken to the church where many were being met by relatives.
“We’ve got a lot of their family members here as well so they’re very comfortable. It’s been quite good that we’ve been able to match family members with patients,” she said.
“There’s also a few that have turned up looking for their family and unfortunately their family hasn’t been here – they’ve been moved to other nursing homes or to hospitals.”
Sue Webeck’s 83-year-old mother Verna has been a resident of the home for 10 years.
The fire started in her wing and she was taken to Hawkesbury Hospital suffering burns and blisters.
Mrs Webeck says she was relieved to hear that her bedridden mother had made it out alive.
“I nearly collapsed in the service station when they rang me… I hit the ground, it was just relief [that] I know where she is. She’s an amputee, a right [leg] amputee and she has no mobility in the left leg,” she said.
Gary Barnier, chief executive of Domain Principal Group which runs the nursing home, said he had met families of those affected by the fire to express his condolences and offer them support.
“I can’t imagine what it was like for them… they seem to be in as good a spirits as could be under the circumstances,” he said.
“But again, I was just making sure they got the proper attention.”
Federal Minister for Ageing Mark Butler says affected residents will be moved to alternative aged care facilities.
“Those will be interim arrangements in some cases while permanent aged care accommodation can be arranged for them,” he said.
“This is something we needed to do over the course of summer when about 35 aged care facilities were evacuated because of the summer floods. So arranging alternative accommodation is something the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing is well equipped to do.”
Mr Butler says the Quakers Hill home only recently met accreditation and safety standards.
“The facilities are also required to have regular audits of their fire safety systems conducted by independent auditors. I’m advised that this facility had an audit of their fire safety systems as recently as July and again was found to be compliant,” he said.
People who have friends or relatives at the nursing home are being asked not to go to the scene but instead call 1800 227 228 for more details.
ABC/AAP
residential,
disasters-and-accidents,
fires,
quakers-hill-2763,
australia,
nsw,
sydney-2000
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