Ray Barrago, father of two children went back into the house after escaping to bring his mother, Kora out of the burning place.
Described as the 'epitome of kindness,' Ray Barrago, a man in his 60s and a father of two children went back into his burning house after barely making it out to save his mother, Kora aged around 80 who is now being treated in Westmead Hospital in Western Sydney. The incident took place on October 17, 2022, when the house caught fire at around 5 am in the morning. Firefighters and emergency crews soon made it to the house and extracted the pair but Barrago was declared dead on the scene. His mother, Kora has been given the devastating news about his son. Both the victims tried their harder to extinguish the flames with hoses and fire extinguishers before emergency services arrived at the scene, The Daily Mail reported.
A father-of-two has tragically died while trying to save his mother in a Blacktown house fire.
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) October 18, 2022
Ray Barrago, who has been described as the "epitome of kindness", was pulled from the home but died at the scene. #9News
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It took around two hours to quell the ferocious flume in the house. While one of the rooms has been totally tarnished, the rest of the house is bowing under the smoke and water damage. One spectator commented, "The smoke was too much and the heat [was too much], so I couldn't enter from the front or the back." While another commented, "...everybody's shouting, 'anybody inside, anybody inside.'" Chief Superintendent of Fire and Rescue NSW Michael Morris also explained, "The care of the patients was immediately taken over by the ambulance crews when those patients were brought out." While Barrago was originally unconscious at the scene, multiple CPR attempts fared unsuccessful to revive him, declaring him dead at the scene. Muriel Rull, a close friend of the victim expressed his sentiments about the deceased, 9 News Australia reported.
"He loved his mother very much," he said, while wiping away the tears from his eyes. "I said to them, they have to be, to keep strong (sic), help each other because their grandma is still there. She needs both of them." Residents in the area who were at the scene and tried to help the victims recounted their experiences to the news channel. "It's a shame, yeah. Like wow, if only I could've done more." Rull recounts his last moments with Barrago, "I was just with him last Sunday and I just can't believe it." According to the reporter at the scene, the cause of the blaze is still unknown and said that it is up to the police officers to determine the cause now.
While Barrago's mother Kora was taken to the hospital in critical condition because of smoke inhalation, she is now in stable condition. Morris also noted that the situation was a "very confronting condition for all of the emergency services and the neighbors." While a colleague of Morris, Luke Unsworth mentioned that there may have been a third person pulled from the fire too. "One person was potentially a neighbor. They had entered the property in an attempt to rescue some other people. We are still trying to piece things together," he said. Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Police are both investigating the cause of the blaze and anyone with information is asked to contact the police.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2SRdGidBLY
Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Elizabeth Castaneda
