Family, pets escape blaze
A HARRISTOWN family had a lucky escape yesterday after a fire engulfed the bottom floor of their two-storey home.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services was also able to save two border collies who were left in the garden as smoke billowed from the side of the property.
QFES Toowoomba Station Officer Stewart Lange said firefighters were called to the Buckland St home about 1pm yesterday afternoon, amid initial reports a person was trapped by the fire.
Thankfully, all occupants of the home were accounted for when crews arrived on the scene.
Mr Lange said a woman and her children had been transported to hospital for assessment.
“At this point we don’t know what started it but we are investigating that as we speak,” Mr Lange said.
Once the fire was extinguished and the occupants of the home assessed, firefighters were then tasked with rescuing the family’s two pet dogs in the garden of the premises.
Luckily, they were able to access the rear of the property with the immediate threat of the blaze quelled, and rescue the dogs.
On getting the two border collies to safety, Mr Lange said they were not in any great danger at the time and seemed to be in good spirits.
“Thankfully we were able to get to them - they were just excited to see a bunch of blokes running around in uniforms.”
Firefighters were able to contain the fire and stop it spreading from the bottom floor where the blaze initially broke out.
Their swift action thwarted severe damage to the structure but it is still uninhabitable.
“When we arrived we saw the fire was coming out of the left-hand side of the building downstairs and with that there is always the threat of the fire travelling upstairs,” he said.
“Thanks to very good efforts from both crews we were able to hold the fire off and save the house.
“With the hot temperatures we have today, we were happy that we could get to it so quickly.”