Bowen Mountain family was due to move interstate the day two children killed in house fire

Six kids and their dad were inside the home when fire broke out but only five of them escaped.

A NSW family was due to move interstate the day their home was engulfed in flames, resulting in the deaths of two children.

Emergency services were called to Lieutenant Bowen Rd at Bowen Mountain, on the outskirts of the Blue Mountains, just after 2am on Monday.

Fire crews arrived to find a “very, very developed fire” which had gone through the roof cavity of the house, Rural Fire Service Superintendent Jonathon Hill said.

A father and four children managed to escape however two children were unaccounted for.

Hill said fire crews were unable to enter the home as it was deemed too unsafe “particularly around the flames and how they were going through the roof”.

The blaze was deemed under control about 3.30am and fire crews as well as police were able to conduct a search inside the home.

Inside they discovered the bodies of two people, believed to be the missing children.

One was found downstairs and one was found upstairs, NSW Police Superintendent Nadine Roberts said.

Roberts said the family was due to move to interstate the day of the fire. The mother was not at home at the time of the blaze as she was already on her way to Queensland.

The six children in the family range from three to 16 years old, however police would not confirm the ages of the children who died.

The father and the four children who escaped the fire were taken to the Nepean Hospital in Penrith for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

The blaze completely gutted the home and there was severe structural damage to the property, including a collapsed roof.

Hill said neighbours had tried to save the other children before help arrived but the fire was too intense.

The decision firefighters made to not enter the home was difficult, he said.

“As firefighters its our job to protect the community and that decision for anybody to make is incredibly tough.”

Police still have to formally identify the two bodies found inside the home.

It’s unknown if there was a working smoke alarm inside but that will form part of the ongoing investigation.

“It is a matter for the coroner, we will put together the brief of evidence for the coroner to determine time, date, place and cause of death but at this stage we are certainly not treating it as suspicious,” Superintendent Roberts said.

The mother is on her way back to NSW to be with her family.

Roberts said her thoughts were with the entire family and the community.

“It’s an incredibly confronting situation, not only for the community and the families but also the first responders who had to attend,” she said.