Firefighters from Queensland and New South Wales have rescued a five-month-old baby from a raging blaze after it managed to escape from its mother.
The baby was left clinging to a tree after the fire broke out at the home of the father of the child, who was not injured, police said.
They said the boy was found at the bottom of a deep ravine, about a mile from the home in Parramatta, about 200km north-west of Brisbane.
It is understood the baby, whose name has not been released, was in a pool of water at the time.
A fire crew responded to a call for help at around 8.45am local time and found the boy in a deep pool.
Police said the man’s wife, who had been with him, was unhurt and did not need medical treatment.
“He was extremely distressed by the situation and we asked him if he was okay,” Detective Sergeant Greg Brown said.
“He said he was OK, and we then asked him what he was doing up there and he said he’d gone to check on his baby.”
He then went to get his camera and was taken by the fire crews to the bottom to take a picture of it.
“Mr Brown said the baby was taken to hospital, where he was expected to make a full recovery.
The man is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Mr Wilson said the couple’s five-year-old daughter was the only child left at the scene.
A neighbour, who declined to be named, said she heard the man say he had just left the house when he heard the cries of the baby.
He said it was an emergency call for assistance and she could see smoke and flames coming from the house.
‘We are just really shocked’ Police said they were “shocked” by the child’s ordeal and had been unable to locate the man until they got the call from Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) about 2pm on Thursday morning.
QFrs spokesperson Paul Smith said the fire department’s Rescue Centre in Parry Sound was the first to respond to the scene after it received a call about a woman screaming for help and trying to escape a raging house fire.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFDES) officer John Williams said the QFRS Rescue Centre had been overwhelmed by the number of calls it received.
The fire is still under control.”
It is amazing how quickly the community can respond to something like this,” Mr Williams said.
The fire is still under control.