The father of two Victorian children killed in a shed fire says the tragedy has left him heartbroken as their siblings fight for life in hospital.
The four children were playing together in the rear shed of a Corio property near Geelong on Sunday morning when it caught alight.
Saige McGregor, 3, and Ashlynn McGregor, 18 months, died at the scene while their older brother and sister, aged six and four, were flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a critical condition.
The pair suffered life-threatening injuries and have reportedly been placed in induced comas after undergoing surgery.
The children’s father Kane McGregor says it has been the worst 36 hours of his life.
“Absolutely broken hearted having to let go of my two youngest baby’s (sic). (The) only thing keeping me together is holding onto and fighting for my other two,” he wrote in an emotional social media post.
“You are both so strong and way to (sic) stubborn to give in so keep fighting the winning fight as youse have this far and I’ll lift the world for youse.
“Couldn’t be any prouder of you two. Long road to recovery but (the) only way to go is up. Rip (rest in peace) wiggles and saigey. I love you two so much.”
The children’s aunt and uncle Sarah Guardiano and Anthony McGregor remembered Saige and Ashlynn as boisterous, naughty and loving.
Ms Guardiano said the children’s mother ran into the shed and pulled her two eldest children to safety, sustaining burns to her hands.
“She did the best she could to get them all out as quickly as she did,” Ms Guardiano told reporters.
Mr McGregor said the children’s mother was destroyed by the loss of her two youngest and was staying at the hospital bedside of her surviving children.
A couch inside the shed, used as a dog bed, caught alight while the children were playing.
Police are not treating the fire as suspicious as arson and explosive detectives continue to investigate its cause.
