Cowra councillors have joined the wider community in expressing their deepest sympathies to Woodstock following the death of a four-year-old child in a devastating house fire earlier this month.
The tragedy was acknowledged in the closing moments of Cowra Shire Council’s latest meeting, with representatives connected to the Woodstock Village Committee taking the opportunity to publicly send their condolences to the child’s family and the close-knit village community.
Emergency services were called to a home on Waugoola Road, Woodstock, about 22 kilometres north east of Cowra, just before 3pm on Saturday, 12 September following reports of a house fire.
Officers from Chifley Police District arrived to find the home well alight.
A woman and two children escaped the property, however a four year old child remained unaccounted for as emergency crews responded to the blaze.
The woman was taken to Cowra Hospital in a stable condition suffering from smoke inhalation.
Fire and Rescue NSW firefighters extinguished the fire before locating the child’s body inside the home.
NSW Police subsequently established a crime scene and said inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the fire were continuing. A report will also be prepared for the coroner.
The loss has been felt deeply across Woodstock, a small village where community connections run strong and a tragedy involving one family can quickly reverberate through the wider community.
Before closing the Council meeting, Mayor Paul Smith acknowledged what had occurred and invited councillors connected with the Woodstock Village Committee to say a few words.
Cr Cheryl Downing delivered a message on behalf of herself and Cr Tony Horton, describing the difficulty of finding words appropriate for the scale of the loss.
“On behalf of Councillor Horton and I, we’d like to send a gentle and heartfelt message to the community of Woodstock,” Cr Downing said.
“There are no words that can truly encompass the enormity of such a tragedy for a family and the community that surrounds them.”
Rather than focusing only on the devastating circumstances of the fire, Cr Downing also acknowledged the way the people of Woodstock had responded in the days following it.
“We know the beautiful people of Woodstock have already come together to grieve and to hold each other close,” she said.
“We just wanted to say that our thoughts and our deepest sympathies are with you all.”
The Mayor also acknowledged the tragedy before bringing the meeting to a close, noting similar messages of sympathy had been expressed publicly following the fire.
News of the child’s death prompted coverage across the region, with ABC Central West reporting emergency crews remained at the scene the following morning as investigations continued.
For councillors, however, the closing remarks were less about the official response to the fire and more about recognising the grief being experienced by a community within the Cowra Shire.
The message was a simple one to Woodstock and, most importantly, to the family at the centre of the tragedy: their loss is being felt well beyond their own home, and the thoughts of the wider Cowra community are with them.