Home destroyed by ‘freaky’ fire
PROTECTING his home with nothing but a garden hose, Dale Lamb watched his neighbour’s house collapse under an inferno.
Two Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crews responded to the house fire at McNulty St, Miles on Sunday, about 8am, but were unable to save the home as it was gutted by flames.
A QFES spokeswoman said two fire crews attended the structural fire, but the home was destroyed.
“There was a lot of smoke and flames as the house was fully involved in fire … the fire crews had the fire out at 9am,” she said.
Neighbour Dale Lamb was home with his four children at the time the blaze ignited at the neighbouring property.
He said the house went up with no warning, leaving him to fear for his own house.
“In minutes the whole roof was engulfed, it was just one big flame, there was no warning, no noise,” Mr Lamb said.
“With the weather being so dry and humid, at first I thought this house was going to go up easy – it doesn’t take much.”
Mr Lamb tried to hose down his house to keep it from catching alight, but the heat was unbearable.
“The heat of the fire popped out all our windows smashing them,” he said.
“I was standing out with the hose trying to stop this from going up, but it was way too hot … all 40 louvres are gone bar one, the aircon is melted, and the fence buckled.”
This is the second time in months the same house has caught fire.
Mr Lamb said the house was currently unoccupied, with the previous residents moving out after the first fire.
“It wasn’t a little flame that built up like the first fire, this time it just went ‘woof’ – it was freaky,” he said.
“After that fire there was a big hole in the roof in the back patio … they just put a tarp up to cover it, and then moved out.
“Under the tarp was the solar panels, so I assume the solar panel just got hot and hit the tarp and started the fire.”
A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said the cause of the fire was non-suspicious.
“There were no injuries, and the neighbouring property had no structural damage,” she said.