Owner’s shock as home goes up in flames
A WILLOWVALE homeowner has been left devastated after fire destroyed the top floor of his newly renovated home yesterday.
Emergency services found the Fern Hill Dr home engulfed in flames when they arrived at about 2pm.
Beenleigh Fire Station Captain Andy Rose said the flames were so high, they were pushing through the roof.
“On arrival we had the first floor fully involved, we had fire punching out of the roof,” Mr Rose said.
“The crews got to action with breathing apparatuses and made their way to the first floor and subsequently got the fire under control pretty quickly.”
Multiple emergency service vehicles were deployed to the scene including five fire trucks, four rural fire trucks, two police cars and an ambulance.
The home was built in 2015 and the owner, who was home when the fire broke out, had been working to extend the property at the time of the fire.
Police officer senior sergeant Nathan Boddy said fire damaged both the top and bottom floors. “The top floor is gutted,” he said. “He (the owner) is just disappointed, all the hard work has gone up in smoke and now his home has been flooded by all the water.
“All the downstairs is going to be flooded and damaged.”
Mr Rose said the owner was distressed but was able to inform fire fighters the power was out and he was the only occupant in the building. He said the man had installed fire alarms, which saved his life.
“Smoke alarms alerted the owner, he was able to get out,” Mr Rose said.
“Without those smoke alarms it could have been a different story.”
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.