Woman dies after fire destroys unit in Huonville, south of Hobart
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Fire destroyed a unit in Huonville, killing its sole occupant. (ABC News: Scott Ross)
Tasmania Police say a woman has died after fire “completely destroyed” a unit in Huonville, south of Hobart, this afternoon.
The Tasmanian Fire Service was called to the property on Sale Street shortly before 2pm, with the unit well alight on arrival.
“It was a pretty hectic scene, the structure was fully engulfed and at that time we were aware that there was an occupant that we couldn’t account for,” Acting Inspector Troy Hodge said.
“We were doing our utmost to try and locate that occupant and sadly she was located deceased inside the property.
“It was fully engulfed and is completely destroyed.
“We’re currently working through the investigation into that fire as we speak.”
Police believe the deceased person was the 56-year-old woman who was the sole occupant of the home.
“It’s a very tragic incident [and] our condolences go out to the family,” Inspector Hodge said.
“We’re still working through dealing with the next of kin, and if we can, we’ll obviously point them in the direction of any support they can get in line with Tasmania Police assisting them.”
Police say it is not yet clear what caused the fire to start, and have not indicated whether it is suspicious.
“We’ve currently got the Tasmanian Fire Service and our forensics team on site and they’re working through the cause of the fire at the moment, so it’s too early to determine what the actual cause was,” Inspector Hodge said.
“We’re working through who called it in and who might have witnessed how the fire may have started, or the start of the fire itself.”
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
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