Woman charged over fatal house fire that killed two children

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More than a year after a fatal house fire in Melbourne’s north-west, police have charged a woman in connection with the blaze that claimed the lives of two young children.

On Tuesday, detectives from the Arson and Explosives Squad charged a 26-year-old woman as part of their ongoing investigation into the fire, which broke out at a home on Fergus Court in Sydenham on the night of September 8, 2024.

Colourful play equipment, including a tricycle, was scattered in the garden after the fire.

The woman was arrested in Tarneit on Tuesday, and has been charged with two counts of negligent manslaughter and one count of negligently causing serious injury.

Emergency services were called to the single-storey brick home shortly after 9.30pm on the night of the fire. Firefighters entered the property and rescued three unconscious children: five-year-old Izabel, her three-year-old brother Kalais, and their 21-month-old sister Lyvia.

Initially, crews believed no one was inside the home, but the siblings were later found at the front of the house and were rushed to hospital in critical condition.

Sisters Izabel and Lyvia died in hospital three days later, on September 11.

It took 30 firefighters and 10 appliances – including a rescue and aerial unit – several hours to extinguish the blaze.

Kalais, the only child to survive, spent 10 days in the Royal Children’s Hospital before being discharged. His father, Jayde Petalas, who didn’t live at the home, told The Age last year: “I’m really happy about it. I’m glad he’s OK.”

At the time, police said they were investigating the circumstances of the fire, including whether anyone else was home at the time of, or just before, the fire.

The Coroners Court of Victoria also launched an investigation into the deaths of the two girls.