Four home-alone children perish in inferno: [1 All-round Country Edition]
John Stapleton Elizabeth Gosch. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 10 June 2005: 3.
Abstract
After the boxing, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Ms Ford and her partner Wayne Shepherd decided to kick on from the Wyong Bowls Club on the NSW central coast, visiting a friend at nearby Tuggerah Lakes.
* Lisa Ford and her de facto Wayne Shepherd left their home on Panonia Road to go to the Wyong Bowls Club to watch Anthony Mundine's boxing match on Wednesday.
* The couple ran out of petrol as they raced back to Wyong. They sprinted to a nearby service station and an attendant gave Ms Ford a ride home while Mr [Shepherd] refilled their car.
THE Mundine fight was on at the bowls club across the road, so mother of seven Lisa Ford and her de facto husband wandered over to have a few beers and watch the action.
Seven children from three families, ranging in age from 15 months to 13 years, were left behind, when a sleepover was arranged in the aftermath of a party.
After the boxing, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Ms Ford and her partner Wayne Shepherd decided to kick on from the Wyong Bowls Club on the NSW central coast, visiting a friend at nearby Tuggerah Lakes.
Mr Shepherd said he believed another man, the stepfather of six- year-old family friend Madison Hands who he knew only as Stewart, was in the house watching the children.
But he wasn't, and at about 2am a fire that ripped through the two-storey brick home left the four youngest children dead and three others in Gosford hospital suffering smoke inhalation.
Those who died in the blaze were Ms Ford's three youngest sons -- seven-year-old Jethro Sparkes, two-year-old George Gillette and 15- month-old Harley Wells -- and Madison.
Mr Shepherd said he had received a phone call from the three older girls who escaped the fire, Ms Ford's daughters 13-year-old Kira Moore and 11-year-old Chantelle Moore, and 13-year-old family friend Alysse Haddleton.
He said they panicked in the fire and jumped from the balcony, leaving the four youngest children upstairs.
"They were yelling out for help and there was no help. Just imagine the looks on their faces, that's what cuts me up," Mr Shepherd said yesterday.
The couple's frantic dash home was slowed when they ran out of petrol in the middle of the night, but the scene they arrived at was heartrending.
NSW Fire Brigade Superintendent Ross Brogan said the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived eight minutes after receiving a 000 call about 2am.
Firefighters tried to force their way into the house but were unable to reach the four children trapped on the second floor.
Jethro's father Glenn Sparkes released a statement through police. "We are shocked and devastated by our tragic loss. As yet we are still waiting to find out how this tragedy occurred," he said.
Police refused to confirm reports the fire started when one of the younger children put a pillow or blanket over a bar heater.
Jethro, nicknamed "Punkie", and his two half-brothers were lively but not prone to causing trouble, neighbours said.
"It was a large family, there were lots of kids and they were always out on their bikes," said one neighbour, who did not wish to be named.
Madison, who was in Year 1 at Wyong Grove Public School, lived in a nearby street and was close to Ms Ford's family.
"We used to called her Maddymoo. She was a beautiful child, she always wanted hugs and kisses," friend Margaret Spiers said. "Hopefully the smoke's got to them so they didn't suffer, that's all I pray."
Wayne Devine, who is the flatmate of Madison's mother Leanne Pearson, agreed. "The personality just boiled out of her. She was a real little Shirley Temple -- lots of blond curls," he said.
Police Acting Superintendent Kim Sorenson said the tragedy was the worst he had encountered.
`It's as high on the scale of tragedy as you can get," he said. "For a community like Wyong to lose four small children in these circumstances is beyond belief."
Nine people have died in house fires in NSW in the past three days, prompting the state Opposition to call for mandatory smoke detectors in all dwellings.
FAMILY TRAGEDY
* Lisa Ford and her de facto Wayne Shepherd left their home on Panonia Road to go to the Wyong Bowls Club to watch Anthony Mundine's boxing match on Wednesday.
* The couple believed a friend was looking after the seven children in the house.
* After the fight, which started at 10pm, the couple drove to nearby Tuggerah Lakes to visit a friend.
* They received a phone call from the older children in the house telling them about the blaze just before the local fire brigade arrived at the two-storey home at 2.08am.
* The couple ran out of petrol as they raced back to Wyong. They sprinted to a nearby service station and an attendant gave Ms Ford a ride home while Mr Shepherd refilled their car.
* Four children died in the blaze. The others were taken to hospital.
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