A mother-of-two is feared dead after becoming trapped in a horror house fire as police confirm an unidentified body has been found inside the wreckage.
Joyce Lewis was last seen screaming for help from the second floor of her home on Hollywood Crescent, Willoughby, on Sydney’s lower north shore.
Dozens of firefighters rushed to the scene just after 9.30am on Saturday after neighbours reported seeing thick black smoke gushing from the house.
At about 9pm on Saturday, NSW Police confirmed that during a search of the home a body was found inside. The person is yet to be formally identified.
It comes as neighbour Armand Kum said Ms Lewis appeared to have become trapped in room on the second storey and could be heard begging for help.
Joyce Lewis (pictured) was last seen screaming from the second floor of her burning home in Willoughby, on Sydney’s lower north shore, on Saturday morning
Dozens of firefighters rushed to the scene just after 9.30am on Saturday after neighbours reported seeing thick black smoke gushing from the house (pictured, crews at the scene)
He rushed to her home armed with a hose and a ladder but was unable to battle the rising flames and thick plumes of smoke.
‘I tried to get up there but I just couldn’t,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘I was there for 10 minutes holding the hose up to her face. She was saying: ‘I’m burning, Armand, I’m burning’.’
Neighbour Dania Guerrea watched on in horror as her neighbour screamed for help.
‘She had her arms dangling out the window trying to get some form of air,’ she told 9News.
‘Today I unfortunately couldn’t be a superwoman and save someone. It’s really sad.’
A firefighter suffered burns to his hand after he fell through a second-floor landing.
Ms Lewis is understood to have lived in the home for decades. Her husband was travelling interstate when he received word of the horror fire.
Neighbour Armand Kum (pictured) said Ms Lewis appeared to have become trapped in a room on the second floor and could be heard begging for help
NSW Police have confirmed that during a search of the home a body was found inside. The person is yet to be formally identified with a report to be prepared for the Coroner
Fire crews will return to the completely destroyed home after it is deemed structurally safe. The cause of the blaze remains unknown.
‘At this stage the investigation is in its infancy, very early days,’ Superintendent Conrad Walsh told reporters on Saturday.
‘We’re still waiting to get approval for entry.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Fire and Rescue NSW for comment.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
