A magistrate has granted bail to a 26-year-old woman charged over the tragic deaths of two young girls in a devastating Sydenham house fire.
Shania Lee was arrested in Tarneit on Tuesday night and appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for the first time on Wednesday, where she successfully applied for bail.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Woman charged after two girls killed in house fire.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
Lee has been charged with two counts of negligent manslaughter and one count of negligently causing serious injury following the fatal house fire at a Sydenham home on September 8 last year.
Emergency services raced to the Fergus Court property around 9.30pm that night where they found the home alight with three children alone inside - a five-year-old girl, three-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl.
The children were rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital, but sadly the two girls passed away three days later from their injuries. The boy survived.
Police say Lee has never provided a statement about what happened during the tragic incident that claimed the lives of her two girls.
Shocking details emerge
It remains unclear how the fire started and why the children were left alone that night, but shocking details about the deadly blaze were aired as Lee applied for bail via video link.
Within two minutes of Lee leaving her children home alone, a smoke alarm sounded. Fire would soon engulf the property.
Lee allegedly admitted seeing smoke and hearing screaming as she watched home security cameras on her phone after leaving, but she didn’t call triple-0.
“Investigators believe that the referred screaming is in relation to children during the fire,” Detective Senior Constable Chris Mitchell told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
“It’s upsetting and an aggravating circumstance in relation to this offending ... exacerbated by the fact that Lee did not call triple-0 to assist her own children.”
Lee allegedly told co-accused Matthew Mcaulliffe about hearing screaming over a recorded prison phone call, he said.
In another recorded prison call, Lee allegedly said the fire was not her fault but “the only thing I could get f***ed up for” was leaving her kids alone.
“But it’s not like I f***ing fully just left it, like I had a camera in the kitchen, so I can make sure they didn’t get out of bed or anything like that,” the detective claimed she told another man.
Lee was seen leaving her Sydenham home, Melbourne’s northwest, in a Jeep at 9.17pm on September 8, 2024, the detective said.
“At 9.18 and 47 seconds, a smoke alarm is activated before a child can be heard crying,” Det Mitchell said.
The detective alleged she and Mcaulliffe left the children home alone to collect a second-hand car part together.
He said the fire started in the master bedroom and neighbours called out to see if anyone was inside the home but did not get a response.
Emergency services arrived at 9.39pm and found the children alive but unconscious.
They were taken to hospital and the two young girls died three days later.
He said police had engaged an expert to examine possible causes for the fire, with the “most likely” to be ignition of a flammable material such as a box of clothing.
Mitchell said Mcaulliffe was a cigarette smoker who claimed he did not smoke inside the house.
He is believed to be the last person to enter the master bedroom before the fire, but Lee allegedly told police ignition from a cigarette was “unlikely”.
Jemena Energy has examined potential electrical faults in the home but found no evidence of anything abnormal.
Mitchell and the prosecution opposed bail due to her risk to the safety and welfare of the community, and her prior offending, which included bail contraventions and avoidance of police.
She is also accused of burglary, weapons and theft offences, from December 2024, which she will contest at Werribee Magistrates Court.
Lee’s lawyer Sam Norton said her risk was not unacceptable because he asked for her to be bailed to a NSW address.
He said there was no evidence Lee knew there was a fire in the home when she walked out the door, and that she was not charged with causing the fire.
“This case has got massive, massive issues,” Mr Norton said, adding it could take two years for it to get to trial.
Mitchell said they were “trialable issues”. He alleged the fire may have started before Lee left the home and she could have been aware due to radiating heat from the closed bedroom door.
Magistrate Michael Smith approved Lee’s release on bail to Moama, NSW, with conditions that she reported to Echuca police in Victoria three days a week and notify police if she changes address.
She will return to the court on January 15.
- With AAP
Stream free on
