A man has been hospitalised and is said to be in a critical condition after reportedly confronting police with a knife before retreating into a burning building at Lake Macquarie overnight.
Police were called to the scene at Park Avenue at Argenton around 6.30pm where officers from Lake Macquarie Police District found a house alight and attempted to speak a male occupant.
Police said it was then that the man confronted officers with a knife before retreating inside the burning building.
Officers assisted the man from the home a short time later and commenced CPR before paramedics arrived.
The man was treated at the scene before he was taken 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.
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, police have said.
