SYDNEY, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two people have died and two others have been hospitalized following separate house fires in the east Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) on Wednesday night.
The NSW Police Force said in a statement that emergency services were called to the first fire in the western Sydney suburb of Villawood around 6 p.m. on Wednesday and found a house well alight.
Fire and rescue crews extinguished the blaze and helped two occupants evacuate the residence.
One of the occupants, a woman aged in her 70s, was treated by ambulance paramedics for smoke inhalation before being taken to hospital in a critical condition, where she later died.
The second occupant, a woman aged in her 50s, was also treated for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital as a precaution.
Police said that the second fire occurred around 10 p.m. in a mobile home located at a tourist park near the town of Nowra, 130 km south of Sydney.
Crews extinguished the fire and subsequently located a body inside, believed to be that of an elderly man.
A second man was treated for burns and smoke inhalation and was hospitalized in a serious condition.
Police established crime scenes at both locations, but said no suspicious circumstances have been identified in either incident. ■