A man is in a critical condition in hospital after a house fire at Lake Macquarie last night.
Lake Macquarie Police District officers were called to reports of a house fire on Park Avenue at Argenton at about 6:30pm.
When police arrived, they tried to speak with a male occupant, the occupant confronted police with a knife and then ran back into the burning house.
Police assisted the man from the home a short time later and commenced CPR, before NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived and assisted the man at the scene before taking him to John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition.
NSW Fire & Rescue officers extinguished the blaze a short time later.
A crime scene has been established and will be examined by forensic officers and a critical incident team has been formed and has established Strike Force Janet to investigate all circumstances surrounding the incident.
That investigation will be subject to an independent review.