Nurse charged over Sydney old people's home fire

Police have charged a nurse with multiple counts of murder over a Sydney nursing home fire that killed four elderly people and critically injured 14 others.

A police statement said the 35-year-old man had been charged with four counts of murder after the blaze today in suburban Quakers Hill.

He will appear in court in Sydney tomorrow.

Police say he is a registered nurse who lives at Quakers Hill but will not say whether he is employed by the nursing home.

Detective Superintendent Michael Willing would not give details of the suspected motive for the crimes. Murder carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment.

Two fires raced through the single-storey nursing home before dawn today. Firefighters were forced to crawl through blinding smoke to rescue victims.

A total of 88 patients were evacuated as firefighters searched rooms on their hands and knees for patients, many of them bedridden and suffering from dementia.

Many of the patients were later left in the open on beds and in wheelchairs until they could be transported to alternative accommodations.

"This is a firefighter's worst nightmare," Fire Commissioner Greg Mullins said. "Turning up to a nursing home with elderly people who can't get themselves out of harm's way."

Flames tore through the ceiling, and part of the roof of a wing collapsed. Police confirmed soon after the fire that three patients were dead, including two whose bodies remained in the charred ruins of a room where one of the fires started.

Later, police reported a fourth death among 15 patients who had been admitted to intensive care units. Five suffered severe burns.

An additional 16 patients were being treated in general hospital wards.

Federal Minister for Mental Health and Aging Mark Butler said the nursing home's fire safety systems were found to meet standards during an audit in July. Fire Assistant Commissioner Jim Smith said the facility did not have sprinklers but was not required by law to have such a fire safety system.

"The reason there's not more fatalities is the tremendous work of the emergency workers getting there very quickly ... and rescuing those patients very quickly," Smith said.

Firefighters described the blaze as Sydney's worst since 16 patients died in a nursing home fire in suburban Sylvania Heights in 1981.