Kings Meadow house fire injures four people

A man was hospitalised and is in serious condition after the incident which injured the grandchildren of David Button at a Kings Meadows home on Sunday.

Emergency services attended the residence on Kay Street at about 5.30pm Sunday, where they found four patients: a five-year-old, a nine-year-old, a 17-year-old and a 49-year-old.

"He was trying to start a fire, and it lit up very quickly," Mr Button said.

"They told me that he caught fire and was completely alight."

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He said the 49-year-old man was a friend of his daughter's, who was also present at the scene and was physically uninjured.

"My grandkids have burns, and they've been to hospital [on Sunday] and again today," he said.

"The plastic surgeon wanted to affirm again that they didn't need any assistance.

"The man, I'm pretty sure they put him in a coma up here, and the emergency services gave me some numbers for degrees and percentages [of his body burned].

"I couldn't tell you what they were."

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The male is described as being in a critical but stable condition, having sustained extensive burns to his face, body and airways.

He was transported by ambulance to the Launceston General Hospital and then via air ambulance to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

On Monday, Mr Button was at the property cleaning up after the fire occurred in what he said was a box heater.

"I'm trying to get the scorch marks off the floor and the chimney," he said.

"I don't want them to be reminded of this when the kids come home."

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Four police cars, two fire trucks and three ambulances attended the scene in what Mr Button called "excellent response time."

Officers from Tasmania Police and the Tasmania Fire Service were investigating the circumstances of the fire and explosion at about 11.30pm Sunday.

Police said preliminary investigations indicate that the cause of the fire and explosion was accidental.

Launceston Fire Station senior station officer Anthony Goss said there was a possibility a flammable liquid had been utilised to either ignite a fire or keep a fire going at the Kay Street site.

"When these products are used indoors in particular, a vapour can build up, and that can result in a very volatile, flammable environment," Officer Goss said.

"They can create a volatile reaction rapidly expanding."

Officer Goss said now was a good time to be reminded of the hazards and risks around using flammable liquids.

"Tasmanian Fire Service certainly does not recommend the use of flammable liquids when trying to ignite fires," he said.

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