Birthday party tragedy as infant girl dies in house fire in Rokeby, Hobart

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A 22-month-old girl who died in a house fire on Hobart's eastern shore yesterday has been described as "the light of her parents' lives". The girl's five-year-old sister remains in a critical condition in hospital while her family and the wider community tries to come to terms with the tragedy.

Transcript

00:00A grieving family coming together after a tragedy.

00:07Balloons released to mourn 22-month-old Harlan, who lost her life in a house fire on Sunday

00:12morning.

00:13She was the light of her parents' life, she was the light of my life, you know, it's such

00:18a tragedy to have her gone so soon and I still can't come to terms with things.

00:23The house in Rokeby on Hobart's eastern shore was fully alight when crews arrived around

00:29nine o'clock.

00:30Family had gathered in the home to celebrate five-year-old Jordan's birthday.

00:34She's now fighting for her life in hospital.

00:38We are very hopeful and praying that she does make a full recovery.

00:42You know, the lengths that she went to in the house to alert everybody, the selflessness

00:49of herself in alerting everybody to get them out safe, you know, that's my brave little

00:55niece.

00:56Investigators remained on the scene for most of the day, still trying to determine the

01:01cause of the fire.

01:03We are confident that the fire originated in the lounge room and we are also confident

01:09that what's happened here is a tragic accident and there are no suspicious circumstances.

01:14It's been my experience that the Rokeby community especially is a very tight community, they're

01:19always looking out for each other.

01:21We've actually had a lot of offers of help from people in this street already, so they're

01:25hurting.

01:26The scene that confronted emergency services workers yesterday has taken an emotional toll

01:31on them and on neighbours who called triple zero.

01:35The tragedy is being felt throughout the local community.

01:38There's no doubt that it's gut-wrenching, this is devastating, but we're a resilient

01:42community, we will pull together, we will support those that need the support and again

01:47I just thank those first responders and community members that assisted with yesterday's tragedy.

01:53The family is accepting donations to assist with funeral costs and replacing what was

01:59lost in the fire.

02:00An online fundraising campaign has raised more than $10,000.

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