CCTV footage emerges in suspicious house fire case
CCTV footage of a person fleeing from a $24 million heritage-listed mansion engulfed in flames has been released by police, after the home on Sydney’s lower north shore was ablaze earlier this month.
After reports of a major house fire on Saturday, September 3 - including 30 calls made to triple zero - emergency services descended on the waterfront home in Northwood, with 50 firefighters working for two hours to extinguish the flames.
The house sustained significant damage, but no-one was at home at the time and no injuries were reported.
NSW Police have since determined the fire was deliberately lit, with detectives believing an accelerant was used.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Puffett, coordinator of the financial crimes squad’s arson unit, told reporters on Monday that the authorities were looking at a “number of possible persons of interest”, as well as “a number of motives”.
He said that one of several lines of enquiry investigators are establishing relates to a development application process, lodged by owner Ouyang “Owen” Chen several months before he bought the property.
Mr Chen, who is now assisting police with their inquiries, lodged an application with Lane Cove Council to demolish the house he owned next door and build a four-storey residence at a cost of $5 million instead.
The application was knocked back in October, with a nine-page document detailing multiple objections including issues with bulk and scale of the project, as well as having “an unacceptable impact on the heritage” house next door.
Mr Chen then lodged a review of the rejection in July.
The home, one of the oldest in Northwood, was built in 1915 and previously owned by travel industry doyenne Mary Rossi.
Claudia Rossi Hudsdon, one of ten children raised in the home by Mary and Theo Russi, said the fire had shocked the family.
“The loss was really when we sold the family home last year, but at the time we thought we’d always be able to drive by and remember what a joyous and happy life we had in that house,” she said.
As investigations continue, detectives hope that the CCTV footage, which shows a person of interest entering and exiting the property around the time the fire was lit, would prompt anyone with information to come forward.
In the footage, a person wearing dark clothes can be seen walking into the property from the road, and leaving just after 10.30pm as the house catches alight.
“There are people out there who know more about this fire,” Detective Chief Inspector Puffett said.
Detectives are also calling on anyone with dashcam footage from vehicles that were driving along or parked on Cliff Road on September 3 to come forward.
Images: NSW Police