Two junior police officers have been hailed as heroes for racing into a burning Sydney nursing home on Friday morning to rescue elderly residents inside.
It is understood the young officers were among the first on the scene of the fire at Quakers Hill Nursing Home, and raced inside with little or no safety equipment before dragging out a number of residents.
"The commissioner and the deputy commissioner have just met with two very young police, one of them a probationary constable, shirts covered in soot and dirt ... who were instrumental in my view in saving lives," Superintendent Robert Redfern told reporters outside the facility in Quakers Hill. "They are heroes in anyone's language."
The death toll from the fire remains at three but authorities warn it could rise.
Police say 14 residents are in intensive care wards, including five with severe burns, and 18 are in regular wards across Sydney.
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The blaze began in two locations within the home just before 5am (AEDT), sending plumes of smoke into the sky.
NSW Police's homicide squad is leading an investigation into the causes. Superintendent Michael Willing, the detective leading the case, said it was unclear if there were any suspicious circumstances.
"We treat all of these matters until we can prove otherwise," he told reporters. He said it would be a long investigation and one of the most complex he'd dealt with. Specially trained dogs were scouring the ruins of the home on Friday to try to detect whether any accelerant was used to start the fire.
Firefighters said two of the people who died in the fire were in the same room. The third person was in another part of the building. Their ages and sex were not revealed.
The three dead were all near to where the fires started. "They were in very close proximity to the fire," Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Jim Smith said.
"Two of them were in the room of the fire.
"The third person was removed from the building before they were pronounced dead." Mr Smith also said the fire appeared to have started at ground level.
