A father who accused of preventing the rescue of his family from their burning home has been barred from contacting any of the survivors after being charged with murdering three of his children.

The 28-year-old did not appear during his first court date on Thursday, when he was expected to face a bedside hearing after initially being left in a coma following the blaze at his home at Lalor Park, in Sydney’s west.

Three of his children, aged six, two and five months, died in the fire early on Sunday.

All are still to be formally identified.

Three others and the children’s mother, the man’s partner, were hospitalised.

The man has been charged with three counts of domestic violence-related murder and five counts of attempted murder.

His lawyer did not apply for bail during a brief hearing at Parramatta Local Court, instead asking for an eight-week adjournment.

Magistrate Joy Bolous heard the man had no criminal record and had previously appeared before the court only on tax-related matters.

She imposed an apprehended violence order to prevent him from contacting family members, attempting to find them or going within 500 metres of where they live.

The attempted murder charges relate to four other children – aged between four and 11 – and the man’s 29-year-old partner, all of whom survived.

The man is also accused of destroying or damaging property with the intent of endangering life.

Homicide detectives allege he tried to stop people entering the burning home to rescue the children after starting the fire.

The man allegedly tried to block emergency services and neighbours who tried to help from entering the property, while keeping the children inside.

“Dad tried to kill us,” one of the surviving children allegedly told neighbours.

On Thursday, homicide detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty said police believed an accelerant was used to start Sunday’s fire, and doors to the home were locked to prevent the family from fleeing.

“Police will allege this man is solely responsible for setting fires inside the premises at Lalor Park,” he said, saying it was one of NSW’s worst cases of alleged filicide (where a parent kills a child).

The father spent days under police guard in hospital in an induced coma after the fire, during which he suffered burns and smoke inhalation.

Doherty said on Thursday the man was taken off sedation late on Wednesday, and had since been able to communicate with police.

The man is due to appear in Penrith Local Court on September 6.

Investigators put the survival of the four remaining children and their mother down to the heroic efforts of neighbours and responders, some of whom suffered minor injuries.

One neighbour, Jarrod Hawkins, said he smashed down the front door and worked to rescue several children, who he could hear coughing and yelling from inside the house.

“[The neighbour] also contacted triple zero. Police arrived. They also had to force entry. They had to wrestle with this man and wrestle [one of ] the boys from his grasp because he was holding on to him, allegedly,” Doherty said.

“The boy was then rescued and the man was then, after some resistance, arrested.”

An online fundraiser started by Hawkins for the surviving family members had raised more than $27,000 by Thursday morning.

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-with AAP