Tragedy in Werribee: Three-Year-Old Boy Dies in House Fire, Father Critically Injured
A three-year-old boy has died and his father sustained serious burns in a house fire in Werribee, a suburb of Melbourne, in the early hours of Monday. The blaze broke out at a residence on Newbury Street shortly after midnight.
"The father, Jeremy Dashwood, reportedly broke a window to re-enter the house in an attempt to rescue his son."
The Incident
Emergency services received a call reporting multiple children trapped inside the burning home. Firefighters arrived at the scene within three minutes of the initial call, according to one source, though conflicting reports indicate that the first fire crew from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) arrived after more than nine minutes, with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) crews arriving several minutes later. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Inside the home at the time were the child, Jordan Dashwood, his parents, and his 11-year-old brother. Two older siblings were not present. The 11-year-old brother escaped through a window and was uninjured.
The father, Jeremy Dashwood, broke a window to re-enter the house in an attempt to rescue his son. He emerged with serious burns and is in serious but stable condition at The Alfred Hospital. The family's two dogs also died in the fire.
Firefighters initially believed all occupants had self-evacuated, but later discovered Jordan's body during a search of the building. Police have stated they do not suspect foul play.
Emergency Response
The response to the fire has been reported with varying timelines. An FRV incident list initially stated a three-minute arrival time for fire crews; FRV later acknowledged an error in that report. FRV confirmed that the closest available resource, a CFA volunteer vehicle, responded first, and that FRV resources arrived as soon as they became available.
The United Firefighters Union (UFU) has publicly criticized the fire response, stating that delays occurred due to under-resourcing. UFU secretary Peter Marshall stated that the nearest fire station (Tarneit) has only one fire truck, which was already deployed to another incident at the time of the call.
Marshall claimed that a second truck at the Tarneit station could have reduced the response time to 5-6 minutes.
A leading firefighter from the Tarneit station stated that his crew was covering another station (Lara) due to a mechanical issue with Lara's truck at the time of the fire.
Official Statements and Context
An FRV spokesperson stated that operational decisions regarding resource allocation are made by the fire agencies. A government spokesperson extended sympathies to the Dashwood family and noted that operational decisions are made by fire agencies. Victorian Ambulance Services Minister Harriet Shing also expressed condolences and stated that resourcing allocation is a matter for FRV.
Data from July to September 2025 shows that the Tarneit FRV station met the FRV service standard response time of 7 minutes and 42 seconds for Code One callouts 63.1% of the time, with an average response time of 12 minutes. The Tarneit station had 271 emergency callouts in that period, the highest in its FRV group.
FRV in Melbourne's outer west met the benchmark 77.5% of the time, while FRV across all regions met the standard 86.1% of the time for structure fires. The government target is 90%.
A report is being prepared for the coroner regarding the death of Jordan Dashwood.