CCTV footage emerges in suspicious house fire case
<p dir="ltr">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 <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/property/real-estate/sydney-mega-mansion-destroyed-by-fire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earlier this month</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The house sustained significant damage, but no-one was at home at the time and no injuries were reported.</p>
<p dir="ltr">NSW Police have since determined the fire was deliberately lit, with detectives believing an accelerant was used.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mr Chen then lodged a review of the rejection in July.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The home, one of the oldest in Northwood, was built in 1915 and previously owned by travel industry doyenne Mary Rossi.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Claudia Rossi Hudsdon, one of ten children raised in the home by Mary and Theo Russi, said the fire had shocked the family.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“There are people out there who know more about this fire,” Detective Chief Inspector Puffett said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Images: NSW Police</em></p>
