Two children missing after horror blaze north-west of Sydney

Five people were able to escape from the home on Lt. Bowen Road in Bowen Mountain, which was believed to have broken out around 2 a.m.

The fire was so intense that the roof of the house collapsed, forcing the fire brigade to temporarily withdraw and take defensive action.

It is not known how old the children are, but authorities confirmed that urgent searches are underway this morning.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Trent Curtin said it was a “very difficult” task for firefighters, with 12 trucks and about 50 people responding to the blaze, but said they had no choice but to initially take defensive action.

“Firefighters want to get in there with their hose lines and go in and locate people who may be missing, but an early assessment of the building recognized that parts of the walls were in danger of collapsing and that parts of the structure had collapsed,” he said.

“It would have been too dangerous to enter the house while it was collapsing.”

It took around two hours for the fire to be brought under control, with Curtin confirming firefighters were now able to gain access to some parts of the house.

“Some parts of the house are hot and smoldering, and many parts of the house have collapsed,” he said.

“Firefighters enter the house with hose lines, where they can search for the missing people in the house.”

Curtin praised the actions of responding crews in ensuring the intense fire did not spread to other homes, and said all firefighters would be supported.

“[It’s] very hard on our firefighters… all those firefighters are affected by the conditions,” he said.

An investigation has been launched into how the fire started.

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